Happy New Year!
First of all, about 110 or so photos of New Zealand are in these two facebook albums, which you should be able to view by copying and pasting these addresses into your browser-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2344115&l=ae058&id=10223429
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2346201&l=a22be&id=10223429
Jen and I are in Te Anau after spending time in Queenstown and Fjordland National Park following our Christmas stay in Wanaka. Highlights from the past week have been sailing a two person catamaran on Lake Wanaka and a sea kayaking trip on Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park.
It was Jen's first time sailing and I don't think we could have been in a better location than Lake Wanaka with its deep blue water and the glaciated peaks of Mt. Aspiring National park towerering overhead. We had just the right amount of wind to have some fun on the lake without risking flipping over. Wanaka is my favorite place in New Zealand so far and up there with my favorite places on earth. It is a small town with a lot of soul and more hiking, mountaineering, skiing, kayaking, biking, and climbing than anyone could do in a lifetime. Best of all, although there are tourists there, it still a town for the locals and it has a strong community.
Queenstown was nice, but too hectic for me personally. It is a lot like Aspen, with very expensive hotels and butiques along with incredible scenery, but having to pay for absolutely everything (parking by the hour pretty much everywhere, etc) isn't really our style. Instead of shelling out to stay in town, we drove down the lake a ways and camped for free.
After Queenstown we drove around to Te Anua, whiich is a close second to Wanaka as a favorite place for me. What Queenstown is to Mt. Aspiring National Park, Te Anau is to Fjordland National Park. Te Anau is also on a lake sourrounded by mountains, and the Kepler and Milford Tracks (two of the so called great walks) both start right near here. Milford Sound is only two hours away, and that is where Jen and I were for the past couple days.
Milford is one of the top tourist destinations in all of New Zealand because of its dramatic scenery. Verticle walls of granite rise strait for up to a verticle mile right out of the thousand foot deep fjord. Each day in the summer thousands of visitors come in on hundreds of tour buses to cruise around the fjord on cruise ships on scenic boat trips. It is probably one of the most incredible places I've ever laid eyes on, but the number of people can be a bit overwhelming. Jen and I were looking for a way to experience Milford Sound without all of the tourists adulterating the experience, so we booked a 5 hour kayak trip that started at 4pm.
Most of the tour busses and people leave Milford sound by 4 pm, and almost all the people are gone by 7. Along with our guide one other customer, we were the only people on the water for several hours- just our two person kayak and the guides. We started about 15km out from the road (right near the exit of the sound and the Tasman Sea), and the wind and waves were pushing so strongly that we could only paddle back towards the road. However, on the way back we were able to see all of the sound (actually a Fjord since it was carved by ice and not a river).
Two of the coolest things were paddling unerneath a 150 meter (~475 foot) waterfall and paddling right up next to a 4000 foot overhanging rock wall- so large that it would literally dwarf El Capitan in Yosimite. An interesting thing happens in Milford sound. The landscape is so dramatic and large that it plays tricks on your mind. Instead of seeing things as huge and far away, your mind makes you think they are just very large, but closer. It is really quite deceptive. At one point, I thought we were about 200 yards away from a thousand foot cliff, but we were really over a kilometer away from a cliff that rises more than a verticle mile right out of the ocean- the second tallest cliff to rise out of the ocean in the world. The verticle granite wall continues 1000 feet into the water, making it actually over 6000 feet tall.
On the way in we had to paddle through 4 to 5 foot waves. We had to be careful not to capsize our normally stable sea kayaks. Finally, before getting into the harbor right before 9pm (still daylight), Jen and I were the last two people on the main part of Milford Sound for the evening. It was truly incredible.
We are now back in Te Anau getting ready to go out on the Kepler Track for the next four days. There is supposed to be a fireworks show tonight, but it has been raining nonstop. (It rains a lot here- the costal fjords get 10 meters, yes 10 METERS of rain a year!) Either way, Kepler should be a great time. Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas!
Merry Christmas from Wanaka, New Zealand! Jen and I arrived here yesterday after 10 days of road tripping around the South Island. We started out in Christchurch after Jen got in on the 13th. We've been traveling around in a 1994 Subaru Legacy Wagon that I bought. It's got an extended roof ((by 4 or 5 inches) and we've been sleeping in a full sized bed that we've got in the back. It's actually a pretty comfortable accommodation, and we've found some great places to park our home on wheels along the Pacific ocean and the Tasman Sea and many forests in between. Since leaving Christchurch, we've actually only slept inside a building twice- once in Franz Joseph (known for a massive glacier that nearly reaches the ocean) on the west coast, and last night in Wanaka at the studio that we booked for Christmas.
We've done a little more than half of our planned counter clockwise circle of the South Island. We've been to Abel Tasman National Park, Paparoa National Park, Westland National Park, and most recently Mt. Aspiring National Park. Driving around New Zealand is like driving through state after state after state in the US, but at a much faster pace. In just a few days, it felt like we drove through Idaho, Southern California, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and upstate New York. The area we were in in Mt. Aspiring National Park felt more like Alaska than any state in the continental US.
Mt. Aspiring National Park has been my favorite place in New Zealand so far. We did a three day backpacking trip in the Siberia Valley. To start, we had to take a jet boat down the Wilkin River to a trailhead where we then hiked up a steep drainage and into the valley, which is surrounded on all sides by steep mountians and glacier cirques up high with countless waterfalls down below. There are hundreds of waterfalls in the valley, many of which go on for thousands of vertical feet. We actually set up our tent right near the base of a very large waterfall.
I think the best part of the park is how rugged and remote it is. We started our trip at a DOC Visitors center where we asked the ranger about the different hiking tracks and their accessibility. We were informed that the area we were choosing would be “busy” with as many as 10 other people in the 20,000 acre corner of the park we would be in. There is a wonderful sense of remoteness there not found in any other national park I've ever been to. There are no bridges to cross the streams and rivers and there are long stretches of trail that go through boggy areas completely covered by water.
The morning of our third day we packed up camp and headed down river a ways to an area where we were met by a helicopter to fly us out. It was an amazing way to see the Southern Alps (this is the mountain area that was used in the Lord of the Rings series) and it was also an inexpensive way for us to avoid a 10 hour hike out and a chest deep river crossing. The 15 minute helicopter ride cost us only NZ $40 each (about $25 US) and was well worth every penny.
We are in Wanaka now, which is similar to Lake Tahoe except that it is such a small town- it is situated on a clear blue alpine lake surrounded by high mountains and numerous ski resorts.
The little bit of news we are getting from elsewhere in the world tells us that there are powerful winter storms and cold temperatures all over the US. Hope that everyone is having a good Christmas!
(The following photos are all from Mt Aspiring National Park except for the photo of the Tasman Sea and the west coast of the South Island. I am extremely annoyed over how it is impossible to upload horizontal images and blogger crops everything.)
We've done a little more than half of our planned counter clockwise circle of the South Island. We've been to Abel Tasman National Park, Paparoa National Park, Westland National Park, and most recently Mt. Aspiring National Park. Driving around New Zealand is like driving through state after state after state in the US, but at a much faster pace. In just a few days, it felt like we drove through Idaho, Southern California, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and upstate New York. The area we were in in Mt. Aspiring National Park felt more like Alaska than any state in the continental US.
Mt. Aspiring National Park has been my favorite place in New Zealand so far. We did a three day backpacking trip in the Siberia Valley. To start, we had to take a jet boat down the Wilkin River to a trailhead where we then hiked up a steep drainage and into the valley, which is surrounded on all sides by steep mountians and glacier cirques up high with countless waterfalls down below. There are hundreds of waterfalls in the valley, many of which go on for thousands of vertical feet. We actually set up our tent right near the base of a very large waterfall.
I think the best part of the park is how rugged and remote it is. We started our trip at a DOC Visitors center where we asked the ranger about the different hiking tracks and their accessibility. We were informed that the area we were choosing would be “busy” with as many as 10 other people in the 20,000 acre corner of the park we would be in. There is a wonderful sense of remoteness there not found in any other national park I've ever been to. There are no bridges to cross the streams and rivers and there are long stretches of trail that go through boggy areas completely covered by water.
The morning of our third day we packed up camp and headed down river a ways to an area where we were met by a helicopter to fly us out. It was an amazing way to see the Southern Alps (this is the mountain area that was used in the Lord of the Rings series) and it was also an inexpensive way for us to avoid a 10 hour hike out and a chest deep river crossing. The 15 minute helicopter ride cost us only NZ $40 each (about $25 US) and was well worth every penny.
We are in Wanaka now, which is similar to Lake Tahoe except that it is such a small town- it is situated on a clear blue alpine lake surrounded by high mountains and numerous ski resorts.
The little bit of news we are getting from elsewhere in the world tells us that there are powerful winter storms and cold temperatures all over the US. Hope that everyone is having a good Christmas!
(The following photos are all from Mt Aspiring National Park except for the photo of the Tasman Sea and the west coast of the South Island. I am extremely annoyed over how it is impossible to upload horizontal images and blogger crops everything.)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
On to New Zealand!
Someday I will figure out how to intersperse all my photos. Oh well.
My time in Fiji ended very well. My last few days at the Octopus were wonderful. I went on a guided hike to the second highest peak in the Yasawa Island chain the day before I left and then spent the rest of my last day snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. That night several Aussies and I drank an entire liter of Jim Beam to celebrate our last night on the Island. I was about to go to bed when I ran into Chris, the manager and his wife Kylie who were hanging out with two friends who were visiting. Chris and Kylie are in their late 30s and have two boys under the age of 6. I can't even imagine how incredible it must be for the boys to spend several years of thier childhood on Waya Island at the Octopus. Turns out Kylie used to live in Vail so we had lots to talk about. Chris, Pete, and I closed out the bar and Chris even kept 2 bartenders on well after the bar was closed to keep bringing us drinks. It was such good way to end my time on the island.
The next day I headed back to Nadi and the Blue Water Lodge. As much as I loved the Octopus (how could you not?), I think the service at the Blue Water Lodge might be even better which is really incredible considering it costs on $11 US a night. It was great to see Joe, Fioana, and Mike one last time before leaving Fiji.
I ended up spending my last evening at a restaurant in Nadi with Trina from Alberta and Josh from Melbourne- two people I had met at the Octopus. Trina is about to finish out 4 months of travel around Australia and New Zealand and Josh is on his way back to Australia after 6 months in Canada.
Perhaps the best part of my last night in Nadi is that I was sharing a room with a climber from the UK who has spent the past year traveling and mountaineering in 20 countries around the world. He gave me invaluable information about the time I will spend in Nepal and India, and probably changed my itinerary for the better. More on this later, but lets just say that the idea of climbing 6,000 meter peaks while I'm in Nepal this next spring is quite probable at this point. I never would have expected to meet someone like Christos in Fiji, but I'm sure glad I did because I have a feeling I just may see him again in the mountains someday.
Anyway, I got into Auckland earlier today and I am very excited to be here. I had pretty much no problems getting a work permit with my visa and customs and immigration was a breeze. They even cleaned my mountaineering boots for me for free! I'm not one to really enjoy major metropolitan areas, but I think Auckland may be my ideal city. It is like a better San Fransisco without any bad areas. I won't get to spend much time here this time around since I'm heading to Christchurch tomorrow but I will undoubtedly spend time here another time around. Jen moved here itinerary up by one day and will meet up with me in less than 3 days in Christchurch. I can't wait to see her.
All photos here-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2339894&l=1c110&id=10223429
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Fiji Update
***Check back later for more photos- I can't use my own computer here except to type and then use it to upload the text to the $24 an hour internet laptop. The following is the entris from the past several days.***
December 5th-
All in all, my flight to Fiji went well. I got in at 5 in the morning yesterday. The flight was good except that I was in the last row and my seat didn't recline. It was a trade off though, because I could kinda stretch out with additional space between my seat and the window. I sat next to a guy from Scotland and met a guy from New Zealand. My first Kiwi experience was a very good one- the Kiwi guy invited to show me arround Auckland within 5 minutes of meeting him. Too bad there was a problem with his ticket and he had to move seats and I never saw him again. The guy from Scotland was nice- a 22 year old merchant marine traveling around the world as well. Since getting in I have had a good time. I'm staying in a room at the Blue Water Lodge with Ben from the Netherlands. There are 4 people from my flight all staying in hostels/lodges on the same street- Kat from Manchester, England, Ben from the Netherlands, Kevin from New York and myself. the four of us hung out yesterday and went out to dinner at a place called Mamas. A woman in her 60s runs the place. She was our host, server, and chef and she made some damn good stir fry.
When I got back to the lodge I inadvertently walked into the staff Christmas party. There are only 6 staff at the lodge, and they are all related to each other in some way- siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. They had invited several other family members and friends to stop by, and as I was walking in they insisted that I stay and celebrate with them. One of the staff invited his uncle Mel who is an excellent guitar player and singer. Turns out that Fijians are naturally good at singing. Everyone sang together and expected me to join in. We spent hours singing John Denver, the Eagles, Bob Marley, and many songs in Fijian while drinking lots of Kava. I had been told that Kava doesn't do much, which I'm sure it doesn't unless you drink it for hours and hours on end. Kava is made with a dried root (sailors and pirates called it grog) and has no alcohol, but it does have a small amount of a drug that acts as a sedative and can have mild hallucinogenic properties if consumed in very large amounts. By the 12th round or so I was feeling pretty good and my mouth was kinda numb. No hallucinations though!
The party when on late into the night with endless singing and guitar playing, kava, and later beer drinking. I was explained how the communal ways of Fijian culture spill over into pretty much everything- everyone drinks Kava from the same bowl and beer from the same glass. I was also told how there are at least three ethnic groups of Fijian natives- Polynesians (like the Hawaiians and Maori), Micronesians (like the people of Papau New Guinea) and the Melonesians (like the people who once lived on Easter Island). The night culminated with a feast of roasted pork, lamb, fried fish (yes I ate fish) and taro, a root similar to potato. Everyone did their best to explain meanings of the tribal songs. It was great that the party was not for show for tourists, but simply a gathering of Fijians celebrating together and sharing their culture.
Today I woke up to a wonderful breakfast of fresh mango and papaya picked right from the backyard this morning. What a wonderful first day in Fiji.
December 6th-
Nadi- My second day I went into Nadi with Ben (the only other person staying in the lodge that first night- he ended up joining in on the Christmas party too) and woman named Karen from St. Louis. To be honest, Nadi isn't a very great place to visit. Yes, it is a town that primarily caters to the locals going about their day to day business, and there aren't many tourists who make it there, but the tourist economy still looms as the primary means of income for many residents. Unfortunately, Karen got us suckered into walking (big surprise- everyone around town wants to “walk with you” and help you out so that they can sell you something) around town with a guy who steered us into this back alley shop to sell us stuff. I wouldn't have gone, but I didn't wan't to leave Karen and Ben alone there.
We ended up leaving without too much hastel since Ben actually bought something and I firmly expressed my disinterest. Afterwards, we went to the Hindi temple in town (a large part of the Fijian population is actually Indian Hindus who came over a indentured workers under British rule- more photos of this later) and to the market to buy some food.
We finished off the day hanging out with new people at the lodge and eating Fiona's (the lodge owner) excellent cooking. Lemon chicken in cream sauce...mmmmmmmm.
December 7th-
Yesterday I got picked up and transfered to the Octopus Resort, which is really a remarkable place. There are so many people here from all over the world- England, Scottland, Germany, Canada, Australia, the US. The beach is incredible, with a reef about 30 feet offshore and excellent snorkeling. I spent much of yesterday chasing fish around the reef. The food is incredible and everyone eats together whether they are staying in the $20 a night dorms or the $300 a night bungalo style houses. Its a good mix of people from all ages and stages of life who are interested in travel and seeing the world. The food here is INCREDIBLE. Dozens of choices of curry, rice dishes, burgers, steak, marlin walu, on and on- all made with local ingredients.
Besides eating together, there are lots of activities that everyone joins in on. Last night was games night with lots of half hearterd competitions and free drinks. Free drinks led to a dance party and then to people dancing on the bar. The night culminated with about 15 people (most of whom between the ages of 19 and 24 with a few older people) and myself jumping into the ocean for a night skinny dip under the stars. The water was great, except for the sea lice that for some reason only targeted the guys-see lice live in the seaweed/seagrass and their bites feel just like misquito bite except more intense instant itching and they go away faster.
I'm now sitting next to the beach writing this and about to head off and go snorkeling. Cheers!
December 5th-
All in all, my flight to Fiji went well. I got in at 5 in the morning yesterday. The flight was good except that I was in the last row and my seat didn't recline. It was a trade off though, because I could kinda stretch out with additional space between my seat and the window. I sat next to a guy from Scotland and met a guy from New Zealand. My first Kiwi experience was a very good one- the Kiwi guy invited to show me arround Auckland within 5 minutes of meeting him. Too bad there was a problem with his ticket and he had to move seats and I never saw him again. The guy from Scotland was nice- a 22 year old merchant marine traveling around the world as well. Since getting in I have had a good time. I'm staying in a room at the Blue Water Lodge with Ben from the Netherlands. There are 4 people from my flight all staying in hostels/lodges on the same street- Kat from Manchester, England, Ben from the Netherlands, Kevin from New York and myself. the four of us hung out yesterday and went out to dinner at a place called Mamas. A woman in her 60s runs the place. She was our host, server, and chef and she made some damn good stir fry.
When I got back to the lodge I inadvertently walked into the staff Christmas party. There are only 6 staff at the lodge, and they are all related to each other in some way- siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. They had invited several other family members and friends to stop by, and as I was walking in they insisted that I stay and celebrate with them. One of the staff invited his uncle Mel who is an excellent guitar player and singer. Turns out that Fijians are naturally good at singing. Everyone sang together and expected me to join in. We spent hours singing John Denver, the Eagles, Bob Marley, and many songs in Fijian while drinking lots of Kava. I had been told that Kava doesn't do much, which I'm sure it doesn't unless you drink it for hours and hours on end. Kava is made with a dried root (sailors and pirates called it grog) and has no alcohol, but it does have a small amount of a drug that acts as a sedative and can have mild hallucinogenic properties if consumed in very large amounts. By the 12th round or so I was feeling pretty good and my mouth was kinda numb. No hallucinations though!
The party when on late into the night with endless singing and guitar playing, kava, and later beer drinking. I was explained how the communal ways of Fijian culture spill over into pretty much everything- everyone drinks Kava from the same bowl and beer from the same glass. I was also told how there are at least three ethnic groups of Fijian natives- Polynesians (like the Hawaiians and Maori), Micronesians (like the people of Papau New Guinea) and the Melonesians (like the people who once lived on Easter Island). The night culminated with a feast of roasted pork, lamb, fried fish (yes I ate fish) and taro, a root similar to potato. Everyone did their best to explain meanings of the tribal songs. It was great that the party was not for show for tourists, but simply a gathering of Fijians celebrating together and sharing their culture.
Today I woke up to a wonderful breakfast of fresh mango and papaya picked right from the backyard this morning. What a wonderful first day in Fiji.
December 6th-
Nadi- My second day I went into Nadi with Ben (the only other person staying in the lodge that first night- he ended up joining in on the Christmas party too) and woman named Karen from St. Louis. To be honest, Nadi isn't a very great place to visit. Yes, it is a town that primarily caters to the locals going about their day to day business, and there aren't many tourists who make it there, but the tourist economy still looms as the primary means of income for many residents. Unfortunately, Karen got us suckered into walking (big surprise- everyone around town wants to “walk with you” and help you out so that they can sell you something) around town with a guy who steered us into this back alley shop to sell us stuff. I wouldn't have gone, but I didn't wan't to leave Karen and Ben alone there.
We ended up leaving without too much hastel since Ben actually bought something and I firmly expressed my disinterest. Afterwards, we went to the Hindi temple in town (a large part of the Fijian population is actually Indian Hindus who came over a indentured workers under British rule- more photos of this later) and to the market to buy some food.
We finished off the day hanging out with new people at the lodge and eating Fiona's (the lodge owner) excellent cooking. Lemon chicken in cream sauce...mmmmmmmm.
December 7th-
Yesterday I got picked up and transfered to the Octopus Resort, which is really a remarkable place. There are so many people here from all over the world- England, Scottland, Germany, Canada, Australia, the US. The beach is incredible, with a reef about 30 feet offshore and excellent snorkeling. I spent much of yesterday chasing fish around the reef. The food is incredible and everyone eats together whether they are staying in the $20 a night dorms or the $300 a night bungalo style houses. Its a good mix of people from all ages and stages of life who are interested in travel and seeing the world. The food here is INCREDIBLE. Dozens of choices of curry, rice dishes, burgers, steak, marlin walu, on and on- all made with local ingredients.
Besides eating together, there are lots of activities that everyone joins in on. Last night was games night with lots of half hearterd competitions and free drinks. Free drinks led to a dance party and then to people dancing on the bar. The night culminated with about 15 people (most of whom between the ages of 19 and 24 with a few older people) and myself jumping into the ocean for a night skinny dip under the stars. The water was great, except for the sea lice that for some reason only targeted the guys-see lice live in the seaweed/seagrass and their bites feel just like misquito bite except more intense instant itching and they go away faster.
I'm now sitting next to the beach writing this and about to head off and go snorkeling. Cheers!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Plan
I will be traveling around the world for the next year. Destinations include Fiji, New Zealand, Thailand, Nepal, India, Australia, and then an extended (6 month or more) stay in New Zealand. I set out for Fiji on December 2nd 2008.
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