The North Island, Rotorua & Auckland

This is the last chapter of New Zealand.
A few things I’ve learned: If you’re coming here and plan on seeing the North Island, do it first and allow enough time for travel. The beauty of the South Island as a whole greatly surpasses that of the North. The North Island is amazing in its own way, it just takes a little more work to find these special places. We had allowed for basically three days to sight see Auckland; I had been told that Auckland is a shithole so had made plans to take an overnight trip to a town four hours away by bus, Rotorua, an area known for its hydrothermal activity.
The final preparations I made in Queenstown were booking our first nights accommodations at the BASE ACB in Auckland, purchase our round trip bus tickets to Rotorua and our nights stay at the Hot Rocks BASE Hostel in Rotorua.The next morning was March 19th; departure is at 12:30 from Queenstown’s four gate airport. We had a few hours to kill so on Dera’s recommendation I hit a reasonably priced heirloom shop to pick up a few more gifts for the family. I then headed back to our lodge, made sure I had everything packed appropriately and we caught a cab to the airport. After a few hours wait and a two hour flight we landed in Auckland, caught the “Air Bus” into downtown and found our hostel. Dera had plans to meet an old family friend, so off he went. I then started looking for a friend I had known in San Diego, Justin Sadgrove, whose contact information I had obtained when he emailed my NBC account a few weeks prior to my getting laid off. That contact info got lost with the email account, but I texted Pat in Ocean Beach who spoke with Troy, who then called Johnny in Santa Rosa who emailed Justin & me that I’m looking for his kiwi ass. After wandering the downtown area for an hour or so I got back to a computer and Justin had emailed me back! He knew right where I was, came into town and joined me at my Hostel’s Bar… we had a few.
Once primed we headed out to a club he knew named the “White House,” a fine establishment that we tipped a few more back at. The evening gets a bit blurry here; on our way back towards my part of town we stopped into a music festival, that didn’t last very long; after that we hit an Irish Pub, where shots proved to be the end of me. I had to get up for an 8am bus so I said my goodbyes to Justin, got a late night gyro and passed out.The next morning we made it to our bus, and four hours later after a spectacular drive through the countryside, we found ourselves in Rotorua, a town that seems to travel as much in the air & water, as over the land. Once checked in to our hostel we wandered Kuirau Park, just across the street and full of bubbling mud and steaming springs.

It was quite a sight, seems that this type of activity is pretty normal around here and after some time strolling through the park I found some nice pools just the right temp for taking a dip.

On we went, just a day in Rotorua meant that we only had so much time to see the town… our next stop was Lake Rotorua which was nice enough, filled with ducks & geese, but it seemed the light would be better for pictures if we waited till closer to sunset. It was time for lunch, we feasted on some of that famous New Zealand Salmon we’d kept hearing about, it was worth the wait. After that we headed back to our hostel for some relaxation, the Hot Rocks BASE actually has its own natural indoor hot spring pools and a nice outdoor pool, I indulged.
Once the light was right we headed back to town for a few more souvenirs, and then the lake for some shots in the dwindling light.

From there we went back to that park and took some more pictures of a huge pool we hadn’t seen the first time, dusk was the perfect time for viewing, but again hot steam doesn’t like expensive cameras so we didn’t get too creative. After this, since it seemed like our last night to “feast” on this wonderful New Zealand Beef, we did, and my rib-eye was great. Once back at the hostel I chatted with a few Canadians I’d met until tired from the long day, and passed out like a baby.

Dera had decided to catch the early light and with it an earlier bus home, I was determined to see a geyser, and with it an entire thermal park. I caught a bus; first stop was the largest thermal mud pool in the Southern Hemisphere, the Wai-O-Tapu Mud Pool.” After this was the “Lady Knox Geyser” which goes off at 10:15am everyday with a little nudge from the locals. Basically “she” would naturally go off every 48 to 72 hours, a large window of time which wouldn’t prove nearly as lucrative as when the locals “prime” the explosion with 300 mg of soap every morning creating the consistency that brings the buses and their inhabitants.

From here I spent the next few hours touring this thermal wonderland which I imagine is quite close to Yellowstone, but I’ve never been.

The

multiple colors created from the different mineral elements being brought to the surface were amazing;

Sulphur, iron oxide, manganese, ferrous salts & silica all create visions with names such as the “Artist’s Palette,” the “Champagne Pool” & the “Devils Bathtub.”

A quick trip back to town and I was chillin' at the nicest bus stop ever, it had it's own hot spring for dipping tired feet while awaiting the next "coach" as they refer to them.

Four more hours back and I was in Auckland, got an email from Justin and he directed me to the harbor for a ferry ride across the bay towards his area of town where I caught an amazing sunset.

After a bus and a short taxi I was at his house in Mirangi Bay enjoying some more prime New Zealand shiraz & steak grilled on the "barby."

I had not realized the difference home cooking can make, and as a bonus I met Priscilla, my friend's

"Mum." That night turned into beers at a few local establishments in "Browns Bay," once we closed them down we started a long walk home hoping to flag a cab. Justin, who had recently heard a story on the news where a kid was getting charged with assault for "chucking" a hedgehog at the plaintiff, had found his own hedgehog, and in the process of attempting to pick it up for a throw the damn thing popped a spine at him so he gave up and joined me in the cab. I passed out at his place and woke up quite foggy the next morning wondering how far and how long it was to my hostel, and my stuff.

We made it onto a bus and a half hour later made it into the BASE for checkout. Dera had some sightseeing to finish, and he was pretty jazzed to get to the airport early, so we decided to meet at the gate while I spent the afternoon with Justin seeing some more Auckland sights. We wandered over the old Grafton Bridge which had a nice view, caught a Cricket game in the "Domain," kind of a Central Park, and finally having a nice brunch in an area called Parnell. My last hours in Auckland included picking Avery up a nice wooden toy, mailing postcards, having a beer and burning all of my pictures to DVD as a backup. I said my goodbyes to Justin and made my way onto the "Air Bus" for a quick ride to the International terminal. There was a line but I scored a great seat with some nice Texans to chat with, and after a sweet eight hour nap I was at LAX going through customs to the waiting arms of my girlfriend. (She was great enough to drive up and get us, we talked so much during the drive I barely remember the ride home!)

Here I am, home for five days now, I've done nothing but chill and catch up on correspondence. I'm prepping for climbing Mount Rainier in early May while handling Visa requirements for India & Nepal mid May through mid June. Lot's of work for an unemployed guy, plenty of i's to dot and t's to cross, let's hope I get them all.

Till next time friends, Cheers!

Driving the South Island, HELI-MTN BIKING & Glaciers

Now we drive, that's the plan. Drive and take pictures, sight-see, maybe eat once and a while. Before formally leaving the Mount Cook area we headed to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center to snap a few shots of the statue & check out the history behind his time in the area... He's the man, I'll leave it at that. We departed, filled up gas in a town called Twizel (I'm only mentioning it because it's a funny name, get used to it) and proceeded down the road. Dera had a bit of a lead foot so one of the two Highway Patrolmen we've seen in two weeks on the island waved us to the side of the road. We were clocked at 114 . . . Kilometers per hour, 14 over the posted speed limit and Dera got issued a ticket which is payable in the largest bank in the country, I thought that was a little shady. Anyway on we went, drove past a ton of lakes & dams, alongside huge rivers towards the East Coast. Along the way we came upon some signs of the earliest inhabitants of that part of the country, the Takiroa Rock Art Site… neat, on we went. Once and a while Dera gets tired so we pull over for coffee, I learned the Kiwi’s call speed bumps “judder bars” – funny. Our next stop was the Moeraki Boulders, over time the weather & sea have eroded the cliffs here revealing almost perfectly round boulders. They were cool, over even more time the boulders become broken apart by the sea, it was a nice beach but an overcast day so after snapping a few shots we continued on… to Dunedin.

This is the largest city on the southeast coast, a college town and home to the steepest street in the world. (According to the Guiness Book of World Records) Baldwin Street is steep, we drove up and walked back down, and up. Again on an overcast day the novelty wears off quick so he headed into town to check out the “Octagon” as they refer to their circular street engulfing the cities center. It looked like a great place to get drunk but we were on a mission, I wanted to see the Blue Penguin! Onto the Otago Peninsula we drove, the road was incredibly windy and only a few feet above the bay at most points. After driving through many small villages and about 40 minutes we made it to the Royal Albatross Centre, which is where you park above Pilot Beach, home to a flock of around 80 Blue Penguins. We were too early, I was told they show up around 4pm (after hunting in the ocean) but that’s the Yellow-Eyed Penguin, which is located on another part of the island I guess, so we checked out a few Albatross this being the world’s only mainland Albatross Colony. Whatever, I was there to see the penguin so we proceeded back the peninsula to the village of Portobello which was reputed to have internet, but it was closed. We wanted to handle our sleeping accommodations for that evening while killing time before the penguins came home, which we did, but by phone. After that we headed back to Pilot Beach and realized that these apparently elusive penguins would not be coming out of the water till 8:40pm, it was only six and we’d been driving all day, our eventual goal being another three hours away. Ugh, I was not going to wait over two more hours for these birds to come waddling out of the water in the dark (pretty much, sunset’s around 7:45) so after checking out where their nests are located and some lazy sea lions, a sight I’m VERY used to in San Diego, on we went. We both wanted to cover more ground so we wouldn’t have so far to drive the next day. When the sun was going down I took it upon myself as navigator to check a spot called “Nugget Point” for the Yellow-Eyed penguins, since sundown seems to be the time to see these guys. Wrong again, like I said earlier they come home around 4pm and are in their nest by dark, one couldn’t even get to the beach at this spot and the only viewing was from the cliffs above, and it was pretty much dark. I had Dera’s fancy HD night vision video camera but it wasn’t strong enough for that distance, so after 15 or so minutes, to my dismay, we bailed... stupid penguins. 18 more kilometers inland was the Owaka YHA, our accommodations for the night and the most desolate hostel I’ve ever seen. Dera immediately compared it to the hotel from “The Shining” due to fact that it was quite large & old, had long hallways and a ridiculously huge kitchen. The clerk was drunk as hell when we got there and after handing us our key disappeared, leaving us to our ghostly imaginations. We cooked some noodles, played with facebook and eventually got tired enough to pass out.

The next morning we were up early and in the car, gassing up in this small village and on the road through the Catlin’s National Park. After 30 minutes or so we came out of the fog to a beautiful day, the first truly clear day we’ve had since arriving in New Zealand, and we arrived at Matai Falls. I wasn’t sure if we were going to see these but the map said the trailhead was on the road we were driving and when we arrived the sign said it was only 30 minutes out and back, so on we went. They were nice falls, truly woodsy falls reminiscent of where I grew up in Pennsylvania, but with more ferns. One thing New Zealand has a lot of is ferns, seems to grow like ivy in the northeast of chaparral in the southwest. Our next stop was Curio Bay, an area known for its… wait for it… Yellow-Eyed Penguins! Have I mentioned they’re the rarest in the world and 3rd largest? Anyway it was morning so no chance of seeing these little fuckers, but the bay is also known for its petrified forest remains. The sea washed into this area so fast during the big melt that many of the tree stumps and logs have been preserved, as Lonely Planet put it this place is a “Paleontologist’s dream” I was impressed with the surf but being the farthest south I’ve ever been figured the water was too cold to get in so we snapped some nice shots and moved on. Next we needed to check some internet and transportation stuff so into Invercargill we went, it was a nice city, the largest in the southern part of the island but mainly a launching point for trips into more remote areas. After figuring out that the bus would not get me to Queenstown Dera agreed to get me there since I had booked a Heli-Mountain Biking trip the following day. He was going to Fjordland to take advantage of the great weather and snap some pictures. When we were almost to town there was a disagreement over where the rental car we were splitting would be going so rather than duke it out we decided to jump in the lake we were next to, Wakatipu. (one is always next to some form of water in New Zealand.) The lake was cold but a great idea, after that we checked back into the Melbourne Lodge, our 3rd overnight in this hotel (which was run by Dera’s Indonesian connections) & had some KFC. I verified my trip the next day, drank a few Guiness, played with the internet and eventually made it back to our room to catch some sleep. Dera had passed out early since he was getting up before the sun to head out to the Milford Sound again.

I woke up on time and made it to the Vertigo Bike Shop early, due to a low hanging cloud our helicopter flight was postponed an hour. OK, it was looking to be a beautiful day so I figured and hour would just warm it up a bit. I came back to the shop, they hooked me up with a helmet, riding gloves & a bike, which was on the trailer, and we were off to the airport. After checking my weight (I weigh 82 Kilo’s by the way) we were strapped in for my first helicopter ride, it was awesome. The clouds we still hanging around so we had to take a longer route around and eventually through them, the pilot was cool and made some quick turns before landing on the summit of Ben Krauchan, (1900 meters) one of the main peaks in the “Remarkable Mountains” We offloaded the bikes & gear and off the chopper went, overall a quick ride (20 minutes) but well worth the money since I’d never done that before. Here I won’t go into too many details, as soon as he pointed which direction to go I went, after the first rocky section I put my iPod on and listened to Jurassic 5 & Led Zeppelin for the next three hours down the mountain . The scenery was amazing and the single-track was as challenging as anywhere I’ve ridden. I actually popped a tire about an hour in, the guide showed up with the repair kit & it was like AAA but for bikes. At that point I felt I truly got my money’s worth. When we reached the bottom another guide picked us and our bikes up for the 30 minute ride back to town – GOOD TIMES! Once back I grabbed a Fergberger, famous in Queenstown for their New Zealand beef and impressive size… it was good, better than most burgers in the states, the meat had a fresher taste & a more natural feel. Anyway, I spent some more time on the net chatting with my girlfriend, she figured out video skype so now she gets to see me and it’s free, rather than me calling her phone it’s all done through the internet. A few hours later Dera met me in the Café and we jumped in the car for Makarora, that nights’ accommodations and our launching point for the west coast and Glaciers.

A few hours’ drive through mountains and the quaint town of Wanaka, which is situated at the bottom of maybe the largest lake we’ve seen, Lake Wanaka. We ended at the Makarora Wilderness Resort, a Lonely Planet recommendation that did not disappoint! Yes we had to walk to the bathrooms and showers but we had our own A Frame with four beds, it was quiet and the bar had a semi-lively crowd which I knew would be perfect for my St. Patty’s Day celebrations the following night. After I had a few beers and a good night’s rest we got up the next day for our three hour drive north to the Franz Josef Glacier, one of the larger and easier to access glaciers in New Zealand. The drive was gorgeous through Mount Aspiring National Park and the coastal town of Haast, eventually making it to within 30 minutes of this glaciers face. It was great, the glacier has receded over the past 200 years so we were walking on the most recent destruction (for lack of a better word) of this huge block of ice. It wasn’t cold, actually kind of warm, and again there were waterfalls lining the canyon. We got within 200 meters of the ice and decided that was good, my experience with the Hooker Glacier was enough for me without crampons and our pictures from that point looked fine. Once back at the car we drove south to the Fox Glacier, a similar situation but with less people and more rocks on top. The canyon was amazing though, reminiscent of Yosemite, I thought for quite a while about whether climbers had explored these vertical walls or not, no one seemed to be on them at the moment. From there we headed to the coast, a black sand beach called Gillespies which was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. (The sand flies were back with a vengeance!) From there we headed to Lake Matheson, a gorgeous walk known for its reflections of the Southern Alps, but it was slightly windy causing ripples not reflecting the mountains the way we’d heard. Also it had clouded over making the views not quite has spectacular as we’d seen that morning, it was time to start back to our A Frame. Along the way we came upon a landslide, huge boulders had tumbled onto the road and they had actually diverted traffic 3o meters around it… road construction is awesome. We stopped at Shipwreck Beach, Dera needed to stretch his legs and it looked like a nice enough place. Pristine and untouched, covered with driftwood, it was something I never see in San Diego. The sand was deep and fluffy, and the views of Fjordland to the south were amazing… the weather had cleared and it was looking like another beautiful night. From there we drove back through Mount Aspiring Nat’l Park, caught some great reddish hues off the Alps for sunset making it back to our resort in time for some minced meat pies and beers. I spent another night listening to bad karaoke but having good conversation with the locals who kept impressing upon me “don’t tell anyone” regarding their Mecca in the mountains. A nice St. Pat’s for sure, but not my best, it’s always nice to have old friends around for a holiday like that. The next morning we woke up early and brought the rental car back to Queenstown, actually saw my first rainbow over that big lake which was nice since with all the sun/rain combinations I’d been seeing, I felt due. The rental agency dropped us back off at the Melbourne Lodge, I had a nap and have been on the computer since. I think I’ll have a few beers tonight and then tomorrow we’re off to Auckland and the North Island for a few more days excitement.

The Milford Track, Queenstown & Mount Cook

So we were in Queenstown, which is like Boulder, or Chamonix, or any mountain town catering to adventure sport enthusiasts... so I liked it a lot. It was hard to just spend a few hours handling errands since around every corner there's an advertisement for a bouldering competition, or bungee jumping, or my new personal favorite (which I'm pushing to find the time to do) Heli-Mountain Biking... awesome. I left off when I was awaiting my bus to Te Anau Downs, where we boarded a boat that took us through Lake Te Anau for just over an hour into Fjordland Nat'l Park, where we disembarked onto the southern terminus of the Milford Track, dubbed the "Finest Walk in the World" - this was our destination and had been since I'd seen it on the Travel Channel a year prior, and Dera and I had booked it last fall.

A few things to note:

1) I remember why I left Pennsylvania, rain dampens things.

2) I know why California has been in a drought forever, see number one.

3) Although it does rain here it hasn't modified my mood, I've missed weather, and I'll be back in Cali soon enough ;)

4) I've always been prone to bug bites, usually mosquito's, in New Zealand the rain breeds "Sand Flies" & because of the tremendous amount of the wet stuff I guess there's quite a few of them.

5) Because of number four, I picked up a lotion called "Bushmaster" at the local pharmacy, it's 80% DDT and I was warned that it may eat my clothes, a layer of skin and/or give me cancer - whatever, I'm getting it one way or another.

So we began our trek, it was raining but I had prepared by waterproofing my jacket & boots while still in San Diego, it wasn't cold and the rain actually scares the sand flies away while it's coming down. Our first day was an easy one, a short three mile hike to the Clinton Hut.

Now I need to explain some things: there are no tents on the Milford Track, the Department of Conservation has built camps at various points along the way for the independent hikers (aka Dera & I) - There's only two ways to hike the finest walk in the world, Guided or Independently. Guided means you stay in different, better huts. They provide a nice bed, hot shower and meals prepared for you along the way - basically for old people, all these hikers are required to do is carry their clothes and cameras, everything else is handled by the guide. If your an Independent Hiker you have to carry your own food & cook set, you don't have a guide... but the DOC does provide mattresses in dorm style huts, there's a public building with running water, propane cookers for preparing your food & a wood stove to dry your clothes or heat up. (There's also a hut ranger to assist and explain whenever necessary, the caretakers of the huts.) So I think I've explained that sufficiently, in my mind the independent style was high class from what I'm used to, but this is how the NZ Gov't has diminished our impact on their nature. I'll take it, no complaints here, I enjoyed not having to carry a tent, stove, fuel, sleeping pad or water purifier. Anyway we made it to the Clinton Hut no problem, had some dinner and waited for it to get dark (sometime after 8:30pm) before crawling into bed and passing out to the sound of rain. We had a long day of travel exclusive of the hiking that day so I slept hard.

The next day we awoke to snow capping all of the nearby peaks, and clear skies, it was time to hike 10 1/4 miles to our next stop. It wasn't long before we realized that the previous days rain had created an incredible amount of waterfalls along the valley we were walking, and it was amazing. This was a real rain forest and the downpours had brought it alive, I didn't even notice the mild climbing or the uneven trail, just tried to keep from tripping over something since most of the time my eyes were focused on the peaks, valley walls or the surrounding jungle. On we tramped (my new word, I'm not sure if it's Eastern Europe or New Zealander natives that refer to hiking in that fashion but whatever, it's just another way to confuse non-English speakers who are learning the language ;) to our eventual lunch stop at Hidden Lake. Rockfall had damned up this waterfall before it joins with the river making a crystal clear reservoir reminiscent an Ansel Adams portrait. That was about half way, we continued on through the forest along the Clinton River and eventually made it to Mintaro Lake, the source of the river and the location of that nights accommodations, the Mintaro Hut.
I was the first to get there, which was good because that gave me choice of which bunks Dera & I would be in that evening. I went for the top floor, two beds that were not in the bunk style at the end of the room. This minimizes the amount of traffic back and forth near us during the night, and not having to climb a ladder for a middle of the night pee break is always advantageous. So we chilled for a bit and made some noodles, afterwards we went for a walk around the lake and part way up the next days grade to the pass which would be the high point of our hike, overall a very pleasant evening. We made Campers Meals, (Pad Thai) some tea for dinner and eventually crawled into our beds for another restful evening, it had been a big day since on top of the normal hike we had scouted the trail for the next day.

Dera woke me up since he was ready to go early, I told him to go on since I felt the 1500 feet of vertical to the gap was something I could catch up with him on. At that point I realized why he was so motivated, it was raining, great, so I packed my bag and made sure everything was in plastic bags just in case my waterproof bag leaked. I discovered later that all my precautions meant nothing, but I'll get to that in a bit. About 15 minutes after Dera departed I was on the trail, I overtook him within a half an hour and continued up the switchbacks. This jungle was thick, and the trail was mostly a creek, about an hour in I was above the treeline and looked back at a valley I hadn't seen yet to the most waterfalls I'll ever witness in one place. Although this picture is cloudy you can get the point, I counted 36 dropping into the Mintaro Lake Valley but I'm sure there was more, and even though it was raining I was blown away by how much water was coming down.

Once I crested the Mackinnon Pass (elevation, 3500 feet) the wind started, and this is when the photos just weren't happening for fear I might soak Dera's wonderful Nikon he'd allowed me to use. Gale forces blew the rain sideways into every part of me and my gear, the trail and ground surrounding it was a river so my shoes were soaked through, my socks were sopping and my boxers were stuck to me since they'd gotten wet through my supposed waterproof jacket & pants. Awesome, at least it wasn't too cold although I was looking at snow just a few hundred feet above me. I trekked on to the Pass Hut, another fancy feature of the DOC, giving us a place to take shelter and providing propane if we want to have some hot food. It was here I made a mistake, when on trips such as this I pride myself on making good decisions but since I had several miles of steep downhill in front of me and wet socks I decided to change into dry ones, usually wet socks mean blisters but in this case my socks were going to be wet regardless so now I've ended up with two pairs of wet socks, it's a good thing I had a third pair to change into when I eventually made it to that nights hut. OK, back to the Pass Hut, I was the first there (of 40 people on the trail with us each day) so I aired my wet gear out, listened to the wind and chatted with the occasional hiker while I waited for Dera. When he showed up (I guess he was in the other half of the hut with the guided hikers having cocoa or some shit) we made our way off the pass back onto the trail and into even more intense weather. Five minutes in we were getting pelted in the face by hail, 15 minutes in we were fording waterfalls crossing the trail, and 25 minutes in we were delirious enjoying every minute of this crazy intense obnoxious & stunning downpour. (The hail only lasted a few minutes) We made sure each other were making it through the hard parts and once off the exposed part of the mountain and into the valley I left Dera behind since I was cold at that point and needed to move faster to warm up.

I made it to the Public Shelter, a spot people drop their packs for a side trip to Sutherland Falls, the highest in New Zealand and 5th highest in the world. After about 20 minutes there the weather cleared, the sun came out and I decided to make my way up to the falls. They were incredible! The most intense falls I've ever stood next too, within 50 yards your getting soaked by the spray from all that water hitting the bottom and misting back out, your supposed to be able to walk behind them but about 10 yards out I was blinded by the amount of water hitting me and knew it would be just stupid to continue...

so back down I came, picked up my pack and an hour further down the trail I made it to the Dumpling Hut where Dera was waiting and had already gotten me a great spot to sleep.

Priority Numero Uno: Dry my shit, I had so much stuff hanging over the wood stove I made a list to keep track so I could rotate everything, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone had gotten thoroughly drenched that day, normally waterproof gear soaked through but I've never seen such weathered people so happy and chatty, it was almost surreal, the entire group was getting along so well after bonding for three nights together. We made a few friends, Jacek from Poland & a couple, Marco & Barbara from Slovenia, Eastern Europe was definitely present as were many Aussies and Kiwis. Dera made the comment that I was the only one without an accent, although a gentlemen from Auckland immediately thought I was from LA. (I corrected him of course, but two hours off wasn't too shabby, I guess my SoCal accent is apparent.) This picture is from the hut's deck looking across the valley once the weather cleared for sunset (of course) - that night was mostly spent working to dry my stuff and eating since I hadn't really gotten a chance all day, once in bed my nights sleep was not so good since a chainsaw was going off a few bunks over. (I'm not that light of a sleeper, but this guy's snoring was so loud I thought he might choke!)

The next morning we rose before the sun and it was not raining, this was the longest hiking day, eleven and a half miles but mostly flat. The previous days downpours made for a fantastic walk along the river and of course more waterfalls. It went fast and we made it to the end, 33 and a half miles total, Sandfly Point, an hour or so prior to our ferry's departure. This picture is of us next to the terminus sign where many hikers had left their broken boots. (I should have left mine) It was a fantastic experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, clear skies on the summit would have been nice but you feel a certain sense of accomplishment after making it through something like that. After a short ferry ride across the Milford Sound (pictured to the right) and a long bus ride we made it back to Queenstown, I would be 34 at midnight so even though I was tired I was craving a good meal and a cold beer, or five, it was a good night but I made it to bed at a decent hour since we had some traveling to do the next day.

The next morning we did a little laundry, picked up our rental car and took some pictures while strolling around Queenstown browsing for souvenirs before departing for Mount Cook, that nights destination. Dera had experience driving on the left side of the road so I had no problem leaving that up to him, although I could tell it takes a little getting used to. We spent the day driving through the New Zealand countryside, pulling over once and a while to take pictures or just take in the sights. The first stop was Lake Pukaki, which had a great view of Mount Cook,except it was covered over with clouds. It was a mineral filled lake and had a greenish hue. After that, since it was just a few kilometers away we went to Lake Tekapo, which had the same color and was surrounded by an evergreen forest, we just snapped a few shots and made our way back to Mount Cook. When going back past Pukaki the clouds had lifted so we took some great pics of the lake and the mountain, then continued onto our Hostel in the village of Mount Cook, a YHA.

We checked in and went directly to the Hermitage, the oldest hotel in that area, for some local wine and a nice dinner with a panoramic view of the Aoraki Valley. I had venison cutlets for an appetizer and lamb chops for the entree, it was great, and I was feeling fine. When we walked outside the sun was setting on the summit of Mount Cook creating a spectacular glow which can't be described, only shown. That night I made it out to a local bar, had a few beers and made it another early night since the next morning we had plans to hike deeper into the Valley.

That morning we made our way up the Hooker Valley trail to Hooker Lake, I had never been up close to a glacier so I left Dera and hiked what started out looking like a close walk. It wasn't, it ended up being the most treacherous hike I've done for a long time, the sun was out causing the glacial ice to break apart so every five seconds a booming sound would fill the valley followed by splashing from the ice and rock falling into the lake. I started to get freaked out when the scree field above me started sliding once and a while, but I made it to the glacier safe and sound and found another dude, Grant from the UK over there and in the same boat. He had walked up the valley and found no safer way out. Not quite sure how safe the walk back would be we both chilled for a bit, I took some close-ups of the inside of this glacier and then decided to walk back the way we had come. It was fine, we encounted a few mountaineer women who were familiar with this route which made it much more relaxing. Safely back on shore we made our way to the parking lot where I left Grant and met poor Dera who had been waiting for me, we went to the Old Mountaineer's Cafe, known for it's association with Sir Edmund Hillary, (the first person to ascend Everest, he & his party trained on Mount Cook prior to their Himalaya ascent) for some dinner and came back to the Hostel. He took off back to watch the sunset and I'm here writing this blog. Tomorrow we leave to explore the southern part of this island and hopefully see some Penguins!

I'll let you know, it's been a great trip so far, definitely an adventure, who knows what'll happen next.

The Blue Mountains, Bondi Beach & Sydney

Hello again! I've got a little time to kill till before I leave for the Milford Track so I thought I'd catch up on this since I haven't posted in weeks. Basically since Catalina I was home... really home. I spent two weeks organizing pics, having dinner with my family, catching up on some TV I'd missed, and also with friends. In the meantime I was also attempting to heal my aching body from the exhaustion I'd brought upon myself in Asia. Long story short, about six days prior to my departure for Sydney & New Zealand I came down with what I think is bronchitis, or maybe just a serious chest cold. I grounded myself for those last few days rather than say goodbye to San Diego how I usually do, (booze, late nights, etc.) - It seems to have helped, Grapefruit Seed Extract pills work pretty well. Now after four days in Australia & a day in New Zealand I feel a lot better, still coughing up phlegm here and there but for the most part my lungs seem to be in better shape.

So I said goodbye to my lovely girlfriend, a much sadder departure this time since I wasn't home very long, and joined Dera for our trip "down under." San Diego to LAX was easy, but the six hour layover was not, Bradley (L.A's Int'l Terminal) is the most lame airport I've had to hang out in yet, and once we made it onto our plane it was even worse. QANTAS seems like a pleasant enough airline but anytime your flight is full and it's 15 hours long nothing short of first class is going to make it better. Of course I had some nice drowsy cold medication, that mixed with a little red wine and valium made it fly by (no pun intended) - so we landed in Sydney at 10am and caught a shuttle to our Hostel.

The first day we didn't do much, wandered around, saw the Harbor & the famous Opera House, walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens and eventually found our way to a part of town called Kensington for some authentic Indonesian food. That's where Dera is from, and since that culture has put some serious roots down in this area his wife had mailed him the addresses of multiple restaurants for us to sample. So we did, and Indonesian food is spicy! I liked it, kind of wish we had the time to try a few different spots but didn't have the time. We had an agenda so we hit the central train station to check the schedule out of town the next morning, caught a train back to our neck of the woods and made it an early night.

The next morning we woke early and caught a train to Katoomba, two hours east of Sydney. This place was awesome, the eucalyptus oil has evaporated over the years into the air, mixing with the water vapor and condensing back onto the rain forest giving this entire national park (Blue Mountain Nat'l Park) a Bluish haze. We bought a bus ticket that allows you to hop-on and hop-off whenever, our first stop was a glass-bottomed tram across a gorge with views of the Jamison Valley & Katoomba Falls, this brought us to a park where we rode the steepest train in the world down into the valley, under the canopy. From here we wandered around, took pictures & actually saw a wild peacock. After and hour or so we caught another cable car back to the top and jumped on our bus to the Leura Cascades. A trail down along the creek brought us to Bridalveil Falls, and even further down we saw Leura Falls. This was the "bush" as the Aussies refer to it, basically a thick forest or jungle similar to any other rain forest I've been in, except this place had cliffs everywhere! I hope someday to return in a climbing capacity since the rock seemed very similar to northern Arizona or Utah, except the trees were pine or fir, rather than desiduous, and several waterfalls. After our semi-strenuous hike (we actually passed a sign that said "Experienced Walkers Only" - I thought 33 years of walking was enough experience ;) we boarded our bus, made it back to town & had Thai food for lunch. After that we rode back down to Echo Point, the main overlook for the Three Sisters, that area's primary rock feature, and the view from the top of was breathtaking... a thousand meter drop from the top of the escarpment to the valley floor. Once done with that picture taking session we boarded our bus one last time, caught it to the train station and dozed for two hours back to Sydney. Once back at our hostel I passed out like a log for one of my best nights sleep ever.

The next day I woke up and found my way to Bondi Beach, Sydney's premier surf spot that apparently everyone knows about. It was gorgeous but being from San Diego I wasn't too impressed, the cliff's and tide pools were reminiscent of Ocean Beach so I chilled for a few hours in true OB fashion. After that I caught a bus to Watson's Bay, walked around a small Nat'l Park situated on Sydney's southeast point and caught a ferry back to "Circular Quay" - the central ferry terminal closest to the Harbor City Backpackers Hostel where we were staying & I was meeting Dera. The next day we were leaving for Queenstown so we wanted to do a little souvenir shopping and catch a ferry across the harbor for some night shots of the city. That we did, when we got to North Sydney we were blessed with a fireworks show, of course it was no Chinese New Year but it was impressive since Sydney was celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend. After that we caught our ferry back, packed our bags and since it was my last night in Sydney I was restless so I joined up with some Irish gents I'd met earlier in the week and headed out to King's Cross for a few drinks. We ended up at a club called "Candy's" - not my usual style but the DJ's were decent (for house music) and the prices were fair, Ollie & Donal were good guys and we ended up getting down for an hour or so before heading over to a Sport's Bar for a nightcap.

The next morning I was still a little drunk, which made the shuttle ride & airport that much more fun. We caught our plane to New Zealand and an hour 20 into a two and a half hour flight the cockpit windshield on our 737 cracked because of the extreme cold, (minus 55 Celsius) so they turned us around and back to Sydney we came. Thanks QANTAS for the $20 meal voucher, whatever, another two hours go by and we finally boarded a new plane arriving in Queenstown six hours late. The customs in New Zealand is more thorough than anywhere I've ever gone, to sum it up they actually scrubbed the bottom of my boots in case I brought in any tainted soil! A short cab ride to our hotel (The Melbourne Lodge, a Comfort Inn franchise) and it was time to prepare for our trek... so I hit the grocery store, some Internet and packed my bag for our early departure the next morning. Of course after a few hours sleep and our on-time arrival at the bus stop they had messed up our reservation so I have an extra hour to write, I'm now off to hike the Milford Track, which I'll be sure to write about when I get back.