Lake Tekapo

Last week started off great as a very heavy package arrived from Craig's mom, containing a 6 pound can of Peter Pan peanut butter! We were so happy. It doesn't take much these days........
Things went slightly downhill after that. I tried went to buy mascara but found the cheapest one to be 25 bucks and quickly decided to just be a little uglier for the remainder of our time here. There's no time for beauty anyway! Then we spent a big chunk of money on Shaggy. He needed a new seatbelt and some steering column adjustment. Oh, and a $140 oil change since that's how much you can apparently charge when you're on an island.
After spending all that money, we went grocery shopping and found our favorite jam in the whole wide world to be on sale so we bought 6 jars of it. This is after buying 6 jars of our better-than-the-rest-of-the-options peanut butter that was on sale last week. To be consumed only in emergency after the peter pan is gone of course. Gotta buy things in bulk when they're on sale!
Halloween was uneventful here. The only people to celebrate are college students looking for any excuse to party. Kids don't even trick or treat, and pumpkins are eaten here, not carved. So, we barely even noticed it was Halloween. In fact, we were looking out our window trying to figure out why all the students outside were dressed funny for awhile before we figured it out!

Saturday morning, we drove up to Lake Tekapo for a whitewater kayaking festival. The drive was almost uneventful, except for Craig pulling over quickly because "Something just flew off the roof!" Upon inspection, we found that the bracket holding the roof rack holding 2 borrowed kayaks is what Craig saw in the rear view bouncing to the road. So, we went and retrieved it, reattached it, and went on our merry way. This was, thank goodness, not nearly as exciting as when the boats flew off Craig's roof in front of me on our drive to Idaho.


Craig Setting Up Camp

We were just cresting a hill on Burke's Pass through the mountains when a beautiful, turquoise lake sprang into view. It was totally unexpected and we were shocked by its color. We were very excited to find it was Lake Tekapo, our final destination. Turns out, the color is due to what is called "glacial flour." The glacier picked up tiny pieces of sediment from the rock it scraped over. When it melted, it formed the lake and all of the "flour" is now suspended in the water, resulting in it's cool color. Amidst some ooh's and ahh's, we drove on to our campsite, set up the tent, and then went to check out the whitewater course. This is where Craig's expertise kicks in so I'll let him tell the tale:

I had just read about the "Tekapo Throwdown" last week and was glad we didn't have any plans for the weekend. The weekend was set up as a festival with beginner friendly competitions on a man made whitewater river. I have been to several of these fake rivers, so I knew generally what to expect. This was a pretty well designed river and the rapids were the biggest I had seen on a man made course yet. There were some fun features which made this is a great kayaking training site. I had no intention of entering the races but was glad to be able to get on some whitewater and dust off the cobwebs. It was a great feeling to be paddling again, especially on such a nice day. As a huge bonus I was able to paddle both days on the weekend! Hopefully, we can buy some boats and partake more frequently and do some rivers that will be fun for both of us!


Craig Heading Downstream


Happy to be Wet

After Craig paddled for a bit, we went for a hike near the lake. The hike climbed, pretty steeply, to the top of a mountain, providing excellent views. The forest was mostly spruce and fir trees, with lots of very fat rabbits at the top, above the tree line. It was the closest thing we've seen yet to a forest at home. We didn't spend too much time at the top because it was very windy. Instead, we descended and went to the hot pools near our campsite. There are 3 pools, in order of increasing temperature, all looking out over the lake. So, we hopped in between pools and watched the sunset over the lake, behind the mountains. Very relaxing :)



Hike Up to the Top


Lake Views


Sunset from the Hot Pools

After the pools, we planned to watch the All Blacks (rugby) game in the TV room at the campsite but the room was under the control of a person lying on the couch watching a movie with "The Rock." So instead, we retired to our tent with for a beer and a few games of Rummy.
Next morning, we went for a nice long walk along the beach for some more great views. The hike ended at The Church of the Good Shepherd where we attended Sunday morning mass. Well, the hike ended at the church and we took pictures of it. Seriously though, the church was really cool. It was a tiny, one-room stone building right on the lake. It had one window, directly across from the door, through which you could see the lake and mountains. Unfortunately , we were not allowed to take pics inside so you'll have to use your imagination. There was also a nice statue of a dog near the church, in recognition of all shepherd dogs working the local land. And, we saw some beautiful flowers and a very large pine cone on the way.
When we returned to the campsite, we packed up and headed back to the whitewater course for some more action. There was a cool trail heading upstream nearby so we decided to hike that first to see if the river was boatable. It was, and it was also beautiful. Same shade of green as the lake. We will definitely go back to kayak that part of the river. It was nice and easy, so I can do it too!


Sunday AM Church


Lake Tekapo


River and Lake from Above

Craig then paddled for a bit while I played photographer. It was fun for me to be able to get so close to the rapids (I was standing on rocks right in the rapid at times) to watch and take pics as Craig paddled by. After that, we took the boats back to the lake for another short paddle before heading home. The water there was amazingly calm and, again, beautiful with the snow-capped mountains in the background. And the weather was perfect, 21 degrees and sunny. I have a nice farmer-sunburned arm to prove it too. The sun is so strong here that you definitely need sunscreen at all times, even on rainy days. My face even got some color after 3 sunscreen applications.


Katie Paddling in the Lake

After that paddle, we were out of time and began our drive back to Duds. On the way, we passed another gorgeous lake, Lake Pukaki. This lake was even calmer than Tekapo, reflecting the mountains in the water. A quick stop for pics and then back on the road.


Lake Pukaki

We are feeling really lucky to have found this place and all of the cool places we've been so far that are so nearby. Hope we get to enjoy them all a lot more before returning home!

Lake Tekapo Pix!

Unexpected Wonderfulness

This past weekend was Labour Day here, so we had Monday off. As some of you know, we had been planning a backpacking trip to Stewart Island to take advantage of the extra time. However, plans changed on Thursday with an evening spent in the ER. It all began with a small surfing-related rib injury two weeks ago. Still annoying me Wednesday night, I decided to pull out the big guns and asked my wonderful and loving expert physiotherapist partner to "fix me." So, Craig determined that I had a wacky rib and performed some fancy maneuvers to fix it. All is well in the N-Zizzle at this point. However, that turned into all is very very unwell at about 6am the following morning when I awoke, unable to breathe, with horrible rib, chest, back, and shoulder pains. 800 mg's of Ibuprofen, some quick research online about the NZ healthcare system, and one long hour later, both Craig and I were able to fall asleep for a few minutes. Craig went to work and called in sick for me, and I spent the day trying to find comfortable positions. When nothing had improved by the time Craig got home from work, he made the executive decision to head to the ER. Once there, long story short, I was stabbed a few times by the "trainee intern" who ended up ordering a chest xray and every blood test imaginable, and then found nothing. So, it was deemed a "strain, sprain, or virus" and I was sent home with some tylenol and codeine. As a result, we cancelled our backpacking trip but ended up having our best weekend yet. Read on.....
Since we had booked a hotel in Invercargill for Friday night to kick off our backpacking trip and couldn't cancel it, we drove down and stayed. The hotel was surprisingly nice for a town with so little to offer. Saturday morning, after a 15 minute walk around town, we quickly decided to move on and began driving northwest to Te Anau. On the way, we stopped at any cool looking place we saw, including a suspension bridge, Lake Manapouri, Riverton Rocks Beach, and Cosy Nook (a small little fishing town of about 4 houses with amazing ocean views).



Riverton Rocks


Craig at Riverton Rocks


Cozy Nook


Cozy Nook


A few hours later, we arrived in Te Anau, a great, slightly touristy little town on a pretty lake. We had planned to tent camp all weekend but when the weather forecast called for snow, we found a place with little "cabins" instead. These cabins were basically just rooms with bunk beds, a table, and a heater (that's all I cared about). But, it ended up being the biggest hook-up! It turned out there was a full kitchen to use, bathrooms, and showers. It even came complete with a herd of sheep and baby sheep (also known as lambs) which were so cute. Good thing we found that place too because it did get very cold and snowy after dinner. After checking in, we went back into town and decided we had time to do some hiking on the Kepler Track. This track is one of the "Great Walks" in NZ, and takes 3-4 days to complete the entire thing. We chose a 3 hour hike and set out, only to be stopped a half hour later by increasing winds, decreasing temps, and hail. That was the end of that and we headed back to camp. We tried to take advantage of the kitchen facilities for dinner but upon inspection of the directions for cooking our soup, we saw it was supposed to boil for an hour and a half. We were not willing to wait so we headed into town for some Chinese food and then to "The Ranch" for some beer and rugby. The Air New Zealand Cup Final, which is like the Superbowl of Union Rugby in New Zealand, was on TV and we got to see a player with the top of his ear torn off and hanging! It was a fun (and warm) night. Although, in the middle of the night, I woke up to a sound that I thought was Craig either suffocating or snoring very strangely. After a few rounds of the noise, I realized it was actually a sheep baa-ing outside. And the next day, one of them actually said "Moo!"


Cute Little Lambs

In the morning, we went back to the Kepler Track to try again and had better luck. Sunshine and mild temps perfect for hiking. We completed the 3-hour hike to Broad Bay and back, and then decided to do another one in the opposite direction. Both hikes were through some mossy beech forest with Lake Te Anau one way and a river the other. Craig convinced me there was an elusive baby Kiwi bird on the trail ahead and I was very excited until I realized he was pointing to a sparrow. Brat. We hiked for about 5 hours and then hopped in the car for our drive to Milford.


Creek along Kepler Track


Katie Holding her Own and then Some


Beech Forest


Typical Kepler Track Views

The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound through Fiordland National Park is 2 hours of the most beautiful and awesome scenery either of us had ever seen. There are huge, towering mountains all around, with numerous waterfalls seen from the road. There are lakes, forests, and tumbling creeks. There are so many natural wonders to stop and see that we will have to return just to see the stuff along the road. My favorite thing was a good size waterfall (Falls Creek) literally right next to the road, ending in a bright turquoise pool under the bridge we drove over.


Roadside Waterfall

Toward the end of the road, we went through Homer Tunnel. It is a single lane tunnel through the mountain, and the direction of traffic flow is ruled by a traffic signal which changes every 15 minutes. When waiting for a green light, native birds called Kea provide entertainment by landing on the cars, looking for food. They look like giant parrots and are quite demanding. Craig had the window down to take pictures and I thought the Kea was coming in the car! It landed on the roof instead and bent down to stick its beak inside.


Kea

Once through the tunnel, a series of tight hairpin turns led us down the mountain to the only lodge in town, Milford Lodge. The lodge is a great place, completely self-contained, nestled in a little cubby in the mountains on a creek. We checked into a similar "cabin" with 2 single beds and a heater (yay!) and headed down the road toward the sound. We quickly found out people were not exaggerating when they told us there was nothing there but the visitor center and docks. There literally was nothing else there, and that's where the road ends. So, back to the lodge for some spaghetti, a shower, and an early night.

The next morning (Monday), we had a Milford Sound Cruise booked. We walked over to the docks and boarded our boat for the best cruise I have ever been on. The misty rain and low clouds provided an ominous look to the 90 minute tour of Milford Sound. Neither my words or the pictures can do this place justice, but look anyway. The whole time we were on the boat, Craig and I could not stop saying, "This is awesome. This is so cool." All I can say is it was amazing and beautiful. There were probably hundreds of waterfalls tumbling from these gigantic monster mountains rising straight of the water. No foothills here. One waterfall we got to see up close, Stirling Falls, was 146 metres high (about 500 feet and 3 times the height of Niagara Falls). And, at the beginning/end of the tour is Bowen Falls, 160 metres high. We also saw some penguins swimming in the ocean and some seals lying on the rocks. It was the topper of our great weekend and it alone made our time here in New Zealand well worth it.

Legend of Milford Sound Formation


Our Cruise Ship


Stirling Falls on Milford Sound


Fiord Wall


Ominous Milford Scene


Katie in Front of Bowen Falls

A lot more pictures!

Lounging Weekend

This blog is kind of a makeup since we have been lazy on the updates. It will be nice and short since not too much occurred over the previous week. The week did have some good news as both of us got raises! The University was so impressed with the work we performed that raises were given retroactively to July 1, my first day, woo hoo, as were the rest of the University employees. That will be a nice retro check, on the other side of that coin, the Kiwi dollar has been sinking fast which doesn't translate well for bringing money home when we return. Maybe I can convince Katie we should spend it all here?!?!

Last weekend we planned on being lazy since we haven't done much of that for a whole weekend since we got here. Saturday included the semi-weekly pilgrimage to the Farmer's Market. This isn't yet fresh produce season so it was an excuse to have a deluxe euro-dog (hot dog, bacon, fried onions, ketchup, and mustard). Katie opted for the organic berry muffin which was more like a log due to shape but it was quite tasty. Saturday afternoon brought about 4 seasons in a few hours. Wind, rain, sun, hail, repeat. We mostly hung out around the house. I'm not gonna say a nap didn't occur. Saturday night we did what all party animals do, stay out until last call. This may not sound like a lazy weekend activity, unless you consider we stayed for last call at the grocery store, 7pm on Saturday night! Our treat for the night was a recipe Katie got from some coworkers where you can make a pudding cake in a mug in the microwave. The results are seen below, it kinda looks like a big turd overflowing the cup. It didn't taste as bad as the picture, but the recipe wasn't kept on file either.



Sunday brought some more seasonal weather and sunny skies. After a lounging morning, we took a coworker up on his offer to borrow his kayaks for the afternoon. He was out hang gliding early in the afternoon so we watched him fly for a bit and then headed out on the Otago harbour for awhile to paddle between the islands and shores. It got a bit windy and with an incoming tide we struggled a bit to move the slow boats back to the dock after a good hour and a half of paddling. It was great to be in a boat and hopefully it is a sign of more kayaking to come!

Doin' the Wave(s)

Another busy weekend.......Friday night, after 3 days of student interviews, we decided a beer was in order so we met our equally as happy they were over friends from work out for happy hour. The student interviews are part of the application process to get into Physio school. Craig was an interviewer and got to ask lots of very nervous students questions, one at a time with a fellow interviewer. I acted as a "runner" and showed the students to and from their respective interview rooms and delivered coffee, paperwork, and snacks to the interviewers. Part escort, part waitress. It actually was a nice change of pace from sitting at our desks, and it was fun to talk to the students. It was also tiring though, hence the happily drunk brew on Friday afternoon.
After our happy hour, we went to another cultural event, a presentation called William Yang's China. It was a slideshow/movie with live music and narration about a few of the narrator's trips to China to investigate his heritage. Pretty interesting, the pictures were amazing and the chinese music was nice.
Saturday morning we were thrilled to receive a call from Katie, who was kicking off the annual Octoberfest weekend in Ellicottville with the rest of the crew. We had sent a box of NZ snacks for them to open at the cabin, and they called while tasting the various chips (flavors included lamb & mint, chicken, and burger rings, yuck). Nobody sounded too impressed with the snacks but we were excited to talk to everyone there. Hope you guys had fun!
Saturday afternoon, we decided that since it was a nice day, we would drive the 2 hours back down to Cathedral Caves for a second try. If you remember, we took a trip there previously and were greeted with a sign stating "access closed" due to high seas. After that time though, our friends assured us that they too had been met with that sign but they went in anyway and it was accessible and really cool. So, when we arrived this time, the following sign did not deter us.



We walked up the road 2 km to the parking area. From there, we hiked about 20 minutes through a green, rainforesty, wooded area, down to the beach. Once on the beach, we walked about another 10 minutes to where the caves are and, go figure, the sign had actually told the truth. The sea was high and the waves were gushing into the caves. We climbed on some rocks but were still unable to get in. So, once again, Cathedral Caves elude us for another day. The beach and hike to it were really pretty though.



Sunday morning, we got to talk to our friend Dan in the UK. Dan and his wife, Natalie moved there a couple of weeks before we moved to NZ. We hadn't talked to them since then so it was great to hear that they're doing fine and having a good time.
After that, we decided to brave the chilly seas and go surfing for the first time since we've been here! We picked up Lexi, rented boards and wetsuits from the University gym, and headed to the beach. First I have to back up a minute to tell you how absolutely hilarious it was trying on the wetsuits. Lexi and I had no idea what size we needed because sizes here aren't the same as in the US. Apparently, they're 1-2 sizes bigger here. So, we guessed and took some wetsuits to the changing room to try on. After about 5 minutes, Lexi was jumping up and down, trying to pull hers up, and I had discovered I was trying to put my leg in the arm hole. After about 15 minutes, Lexi had finally squeezed into her suit and I had given up and gone to get a size larger. Thankfully, the second try was much easier (actually, a bit big but I was not about to try squeezing into the smaller one again) and we were off to the beach.
Upon arrival at "one of the best surf beaches in NZ," we saw frighteningly humongous waves and not one single surfer. We wandered around, contemplating our options: We could attempt to surf anyway, not knowing why nobody else was and hoping it was not because of an increased danger of some sort. Or, we could take the gear back to the gym and try to get our money back. We decided on option #3, drive to the nearest sporting goods store and ask for information. The people at the store informed us that nobody was surfing because there was a big swell and it was too dangerous. Also that there was only one beach that would be safe for beginners and it was about 45 minutes up the coast. We decided to go for it, drove up, and spent another 20 minutes trying to don our wetsuits for the second time that day.



Once we were geared up, we hit the water, which still had some pretty large waves, for some fun! I can't really call it surfing because we all spent the majority of our time either lying or kneeling on our boards, or being pommeled by the waves. Craig stood up once or twice and I had a few moments of one-legged goofy style stance but I can't call it success. We both loved it anyway though and are now searching for used boards to buy. As for the temps, my concern was being freezing cold the whole time since the air was about 50 degrees and the water never gets warm here. But, to my surprise, the wetsuits were quite effective and we never even got chilly. When we got tired, we packed up, returned the gear, and headed home where we made some YUMMY pizza and then walked a couple blocks for some yes, YUMMY ice cream. It was a great weekend and we can't wait to surf again!

A Few Pix

Cultural Fun

With the later light comes later fun! Now that we've set our clocks ahead an hour, it stays light until 8:30 or so. That means we can go biking in the evenings after work, which we did a few times last week. We also went down to the harbor to walk on the path along the water one night. The path is between the water and the railroad tracks. During our stroll, a train went by next to us with a dog racing it on the path. That dog was fast and was keeping up with the train!
Friday night we decided to get some culture and went to see an act from Barcelona in town for the Otago Arts Festival. The act, Camut, was comprised of 7 men who tap dance and place different percussion instruments to make music. It was kind of along the same lines as Stomp but a bit different. It was really amazing, some talented people, and very entertaining. I think we both left wanting to learn to tap dance or play strange instruments.

Saturday morning we walked down to the market and were excited to find some fresh apples! The market was pretty lively that day because of the arts festival and there were a few more performers than usual, making for larger crowds. Neither of us were very hungry so no exciting food to tell you about this week, although I did buy a "no sugar" oatmeal raisin cookie which was yummy.

After the market we came home and chilled out for awhile before meeting Dan, Emily, and Lexie for our first rugby game! We took some beers and crisps to "the oval," a park like place for some American style tailgating and tossed a football around a little bit. Then we walked to Carisbrook, the rugby "pitch" (stadium). The stands were nearly empty because Otago (our team, in last place) was playing Wellington (in first place, undefeated) so nobody expected any excitement. However, it ended up being a crazy good game and Otago somehow actually pulled a win out of their behinds! Due in part, I think to our (especially Craig and Dan's) excessive cheering, jeering, and chanting "Let's go Otago!" The locals thought we were all hilarious but nuts. They definitely don't get into sporting events here like we do back home so we did it for them.

On Sunday, there were surfing and surf kayaking at St Clair beach so we went down for some spectating. Craig was dying to get in the water but still has no boat which is a big bummer. But it was pretty fun to watch and be outside by the beach for a couple hours. The waves were gigantic and a couple of surfers and kayakers got rocked which had good entertainment value. Craig also found his new favorite sign, guess if you can find it below...
After that we hit up Bethunes Gully for some mountain biking. I fell off the edge of a boardwalk and into a tree which resulted in some impressive new bruises and scrapes. We also found a new trail which was pretty cool until we had to ride through a mud pit in which rotted an unrecognizable, smelly, medium sized mammal skeleton. Anyway, except for our fairly frequent bailing (especially me), our biking is improving by leaps and bounds! Craig has nearly mastered the numerous hairpin turns present on the trails here and I am not super far behind (I hope). And we're having lots of fun with it!

Monday night we went for a nice easy bike ride on the path by the harbor. No dogs chasing trains that time but we did see some strange birds.

Work is fine for us both. The semester is winding up and the students are in their last week of classes before finals. Then they're off for about 3 months! So, Craig is finishing up with his teaching and getting ready to focus a little more on research until the students resume. I am not really affected much because I don't have much student interaction so my job won't change at all. This week we get to participated with student interviews. Craig gets to interrogate undergrads to decide whether they are worthy to be let into the Physio program and I get the exciting task of delivering the little bundles of nerves to the appropriate interview room. It's pretty interesting.

On a happy note, I did receive notification from the Physio board that my application is (finally) complete and will now be reviewed which is the final step in the registration process. I still have a long wait though as review usually takes around 3 months. After it's reviewed, the board will either say yes, no, or we need further information. So, while it's far from over, at least it's moving along in the right direction.
Oh, almost forgot a very important point. We have discovered an ice cream place right around the corner from our apartment with the best ice cream ever. Honestly, ice cream here is far superior to any ice cream in the states. It is creamier and tastier. But, they don't have cookie dough over here which is a shame. We plan to hit up the corner store regularly for some icy goodness. At least I do :)

Weekend Pictures