Stewart Island

With summer on an island comes a need for new toys. So, we have invested in 2 surfboards on which we plan to become expert surfers by next year. Okay, we hope to be able to stand up on the board for more than 3 seconds at a time. Anyway, should be fun trying!
Other than that, last week was fairly uneventful and we spent most of it getting ready for our weekend backpacking trip to Stewart Island. The island is just off the coast of the south island of NZ, and has several different tramping tracks. We chose the Rakiura Track because it is one of New Zealand's Great Walks, and only takes 3 days, 2 nights.
We took Friday off and drove down to Invercargill on Thursday after work. Craig took advantage of our hotel's tiny indoor swimming pool for a little while before turning in for the evening. Friday morning, we had a flight to Stewart Island at 8am so we got up early, packed up and went to the airport. The airport consisted of a small building with 2 ticket counters and a little cafe. Gates 1, 2, 3, and 4 all left through the only door. And I knew it was going to be a small plane when the weighed us with our luggage. We were greeted at the "gate" by our pilot who led us and one other couple out to our twin engine propeller plane. I got to sit in the front with the pilot but he wouldn't let me touch anything :(


Small Plane


Katie Riding Copilot

The flight was smooth with nice views over the ocean. Then the landing strip came into sight. It was a small dirt strip, beginning at the edge of a cliff and ending about a quarter of a mile down, where it met the island road. Now, being in the front seat, I unfortunately had a very good view of the entire landing procedure. And from where I was sitting, I was certain that the pilot needed to bring the nose of the plane up and slow down because we were too low and were going to crash into the cliff instead of hitting the runway. Luckily, I was wrong and we had a nice safe landing. Whew!
We were met on the runway by a van driver who took us into the town of Oban where we had to purchase our hut passes at the visitors center. Town was pretty tiny with just a few hotels and small places to eat. But it was on the water and was really pretty. At the visitors center we were pleased to be told there were only a few other people on the track and that there would definitely be room for us in the huts. This meant we didn't have to carry our tent or thermarests with us which lessened our loads considerably.


The Town


Halfmoon Bay

To the track:
We set out from the center and hiked up the road for the first hour or so until we got to the actual Rakiura Track. As soon as we got on the track, it felt like we were deep in the woods and there was nobody else around. The first day of hiking was just over 4 hours of ups and downs in the rainforest with some time walking across various beaches. The trail was dry and the weather was perfect, warm and a bit cloudy so no sunburn. We arrived at the Port William Hut at around 1:30 in the afternoon and had the place to ourselves. The hut had a large sleeping area (room for 24 people) with bunk beds and thin mattresses. Attached was a big kitchen area with a wood burning stove and running water from tanks collecting rain. This hut was recently redone so it was nice and clean. It was situated with the front looking out over the beach and the back facing into the woods. We checked the place out, claimed our beds, and then took a nap, a much needed rest for our feet. Later on, we wandered down to the beach and explored in the woods a bit until dinner time when a few more trampers arrived. There was a really nice guy and his daughter, both from Auckland, a girl from Taiwan, and a Dutch girl. The Taiwan girl was wearing jeans with sweatpants over them, and was carrying a cooler bag and a large purse type bag. How she hiked for 5 hours with all of this and no backpack, I do not know. So I thought that was strange until the Dutch girl showed up. She had a backpack but had hiked the whole way in flip-flops! Crazy! They were all nice people and we chatted with them while cooking our dinner. After dinner, we played cards for a bit until it got dark. Then it was time for Kiwi hunting! Kiwi's are elusive birds in NZ that are fairly common on Stewart Island. They are nocturnal so as soon as it started getting dark, we put on our headlamps and set out into the woods to find one. Unfortunately, we found none. But, when we got back to the hut, we saw one dart across the grass! It was too dark to get a good look but it was definitely a kiwi looking bird. Then it was time to turn in for the night.


Craig on the Track


Katie Hiking on the Beach


Typical Track Views

During the night, I got up and saw a huge white deer outside which scared the heck out of me but was pretty cool.
In the morning, we packed up and set out for day 2 which was 5-6 hours of climbing up and down mostly steps to reach the top at 300 meters and then on to the second hut, the North Arm Hut. There were also 2 crazy suspension bridges to cross and they were fun but scary! Skinny with cables for rails and swingy. And only held one person at a time. Not reassuring for a person afraid of heights!


Suspension Bridge


Looking Down through the Bridge

This was the most difficult day but we made great time and the scenery was awesome. It was great weather again for most of it and when it did start to rain for the last hour or so, it was welcome as we were roasting. We got to the hut at the same time as the Taiwan girl and shortly before the father/daughter team. While resting, another guy showed up and informed us he had run from near the previous hut and was now going to run back. Crazy!


Boardwalk Covered in Chicken Wire
(Boardwalk: decreases erosion, Chicken wire = traction)


Typical Day 2 Track

This hut was really cool. It was nestled in a little nook in the woods, just up from the beach. It was really cozy, had 3 bunking areas and again a large kitchen area with a woodburner. It was rainy on and off for most of the evening so a fire helped dry things out a bit. We hiked down to the beach in between rains and I learned to dig in the sand for shellfish. Really fun! Then we got to cook them up for appetizers. They were surprisingly good but really salty from being in the water I guess. Kiwi hunting after dark was cancelled due to rain which was fine since that meant we got to go to bed early.
Day 3 started out with just a bit of light rain and then it cleared up and was nice and sunny. The hiking was some more ups and downs and took about 4 hours. We made it back to the visitors center by 12:30, told them we made it, and booked a water taxi to neighboring Ulva Island.


Katie Hiking Out


It's Muddy in the Rainforest

Ulva Island is tiny and is known for its bird life so we went to check it out. About 7 minutes on a motorboat got us there and we had about 2 hours to hike around. We saw a lot of really cool birds, including weki, parakeet, stewart island robin, and tui. I'm not a bird person but it was really neat to see birds so different from the ones you see in the States. And again, some cool beaches on the island. By this time, we were pretty tired with sore feet so 2 hours was plenty and we boarded the boat back to the "flight center" where we hopped in a van to the airstrip. The flight was again uneventful and we even had the same pilot. So, we arrived back in Invercargill around 5pm Sunday, hopped in the car and headed back to Dunedin. It was a great weekend and a wonderful first NZ backpacking trip. We can't wait to do some more!


Tui (we think)


Stewart Island Robin


Weki

This week has been uneventful thus far. We're planning a chicken, mashed potato, and homemade stuffing dinner for tomorrow's Thanksgiving. A 14 pound turkey costs $103 and we couldn't find any squash, only pumpkin. So, we improvise! We will be thinking about all of you though, and hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!


Lots of Stewart Island Pictures!

A Lot of Nothing

For those who read this that are illiterate, you can skip this post as no pictures will be added. Last week brought a nice spring like feel to Dunedin and Katie and I were glad to take part by playing outside. Dunedin weather is notorious for being cold and rainy, so we have been taking advantage when it's not. Last Tuesday after work we headed down to St. Clair beach and rode some waves along with quite a few surfers. We have not yet purchased boards so we just body surfed and enjoyed the evening. Daylight now lasts until at least 9 at night. Wednesday was also quite nice and after dinner we headed across the street to the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. The gardens are great because they are right across the street, huge, and best of all, free. All the flowers are blooming and it smells great. We threw the football around for a while and then wandered through enjoying the sights and scents.

Thursday through Saturday I attended the Sports Medicine New Zealand conference where I presented some of my dissertation research. The conference and presentations went well and I made some good contacts. Conferences here are much smaller than those I have been to at home and they feed you! Everyday they gave us and AM and PM tea time with cookies or cakes and tea/coffee. Also, they provided lunch for everyone in attendance everyday. Needless to say I took advantage of this and look forward to future conferences down under. Last week Katie also got a contract extension at the University! She is now gainfully employed until the end of January at which point she better have heard from the Physiotherapy Board.

Katie was stuck at home on Saturday while I conferenced. She was rewarded with sunny skies and 31 degree temps (87 for those Fahrenheiters). I cut out a little early from the conference and we both went and played in the ocean again. It is fun to live so close to the ocean that you can just head over for an hour or so. Neither of us have had that option before and we will hopefully continue to take advantage while we are here. That night was still summery so we went downtown for a beer and just relaxed and enjoyed our beverages outside.

Our apartment hunting has been going OK. We have gone to check out a few places and are still on the hunt. Sunday we picked up some friends from the airport after they went back to the States for a wedding. Katie and I were both glad to not be the ones getting adjusted to an 18 hour time change this week. After dropping them off and some grocery shopping, we checked out a couple more apartments without much luck. The afternoon was spent calling people from home and hiking through the Botanical Gardens again. We both have been through there many times and we're still finding trails we haven't seen before. We also stumbled upon an aviary in the gardens. While looking at several dozen varieties of exotic and New Zealand birds may sound peaceful, we found out otherwise. Some of the parakeets were screeching to each other so loud we couldn't hear each other talk. We now know why the aviary is in the middle of the gardens. Maybe sometime soon we will bring the camera to share what we've been seeing there.

This past week some people we know got older. We thought mentioning this may somehow enhance their aging. Happy Birthday John, Kimi, and Lily!

If anyone needs a certified New York State lawyer I can recommend one in Baltimore, congrats Tina for passing the bar.

Next update will surely have some pictures as we just booked our tickets go backpacking on Stewart Island. Stewart Island is the third largest island of New Zealand and is south of the South Island. Over 80% of the island is a national park and kiwis live there. Hopefully our pix next post will prove this.

Wetsuits and Deodorant

This one will be short and sweet because we had a quiet week. The most exciting thing that happened last week was the arrival of a box in the mail from Mara, containing deodorant, mascara, peanut butter, and some sweet tarts (presumably hijacked from here kids' halloween candy stash). We also received some goods from Katie, including more deodorant and mac n cheese, packed in with a camcorder we had ordered. Stay tuned for videos, coming soon! So now, we are well stocked with anti-stink and Peter Pan.
Actually, the most exciting thing really was hearing that our friend (and Craig's former PhD lover) Takashi and his wife, Wakana, had a baby girl, Hana! Congrats!
Saturday started with the Farmers Market, at which Craig tried a new organic sausage (only so-so) and I went with a raspberry and dark chocolate muffin (very chocolatey). After the market we headed to the local sporting goods store to check out their surfing sale, and left with 2 new wetsuits. We were dying to wear them because they are so stylish, so we squeezed them on (no small feat) and went to St. Clair beach for a swim. The air was only about 14 C (50ish F) and the water was colder than that but it was sunny! The bad part was, whenever our heads went under, we came up with a terrible ice cream headache. We bodysurfed for awhile anyway though, had some fun, and then drove home quickly for hot showers!
That was the highlight of our weekend. Sunday we just hung out at home (gloomy day). Monday was nice so we went mountain biking for the first time in awhile. It was nice to be back out. And the rest of the week is supposed to be warm and sunny (we'll see if that holds true) so we'll be outside for sure!
Hope you all had a good weekend before the Bills lost!

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!