Farewell New Zealand!

We bid farewell to New Zealand heading up the west coast to see the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers, then cut  across the Alps by way of Arthur's Pass to drive back east into Christchurch to catch our plane home.  It was a whirlwind trip done in three days but the views were well worth it.

Fox Glacier was impressive because we could get right up to the front of the glacier (well a safe distance anyway)  We could hear the ice groan as it cracked, the rocks covering the top of the glacier falling into unknown fissures.  The wind was fierce but the sun made the glacier glow a deep blue.

Franz Joseph is said to be the more spectacular of the two glaciers but we found the rock formations on either side of the canyon to be much more impressive.

Arthur's Pass was a scenic mountain drive through the Southern Alps, unfortunately the campsite was sandwiched between the railroad and the road but the views the next morning at Bealey Spur were well worth the late night trains!

We bid farewell to New Zealand in Christchurch with a lamb roast and a glass of pinto (all from NZ of course) in a pub while watching rugby...

Milford Sound and Fiordlands National Park

Milord Sound

In New Zealand they spell it Fiord not Fjord...more fitting to English phonetics?
We rented a car in Queens town...el cheapo they call it, because it has high mileage and a few scratches and dents, only $19 a day!  We headed to Fiordlands NP and some car camping.  We camped along the Eglington River for two nights and took a cruise on the famous Mildord Sound, which we got a two for one deal with our 'el cheapo' rental car!

The Sound, technically a Fiord because it was carved by glaciers, was beautiful, with soaring peaks and massive waterfalls all plunging into the sea.  The boat could practically touch the sides of the fiord  because the water was so deep, getting us close to seals and getting us wet in the waterfalls.

We hiked up Gertrude Saddle for a birds eye view of the glaciers diligent work on the granite mountains of the fiordlands over the past 200 million years, where we found glacial lakes, glacial topped mountains, alpine daisies, and the west side of the saddle plunging straight down 1000ft to the valley bellow, with a view of Milford Sound and Mt Tutoko (tallest Fiordland mountain) beyond.

Hollyford Track

Lake Alabaster on the Hollyford track was our destination.  A 15 mile hike through 'Middle Earth'.... a lush Beech forest, teaming in moisterladden vegitation, moss hanging from every tree and stump, an abundance of tree ferns, mushrooms, and lichens with rushing waterfalls, gurgaling streams, and playfull birds filling the air with sounds.

Lake Alabaster is pristeen and placide, reflecting the surrounding mountains.  The hut was comfortable and we had it to our selves the firt night.  The sun was out in full force the following day so we decided to stay by the lake and enjoy the cool waters and the hot sun.  Unfortunatley Fiordlans is plauged with the sand fly, a small blood sucking fly who swarms any bit of skin left expsed for only a minutes time...bathing was tough and we had to stay in the hut a read for frea of being eaten alive by the flys...regardless it was an enjoyable day.  In the afternoon 7 Kiwi hunters arrived by jet boat ( an amazing feat since they had to make it up the shallow river by dragging their boat through a strech of forest) who brought with them good food, beer, and rum, all of which they shared in excess.  We spent the night getting drunk on their rum and trying to understand each other through talk of favorite movies (Platoon), music (Toby Keith), and politics...ours and theirs.  It was a good time but the 15 mile hike out the next day was not nearly as easy as it had been on the way in :)

Reese Dart Track

We embarked on our 6 day 'tramping' adventure with the Rees-Dart track.  A 60km (or so) hike up the Dart Valley and Down the Rees Valley with a side trip to Cascade Saddle and Dart Glacier.  We hitched a ride from a fellow tramper going to a different trail head, and using his cellphone GPS he kindly dropped us off in the wrong valley, which we were only aware of after he had left and there were no other cars in site.  Fortunately for us two nice old Kiwis on a Sunday drive picked us up and took us farther up the valley to the 'end' of the tramp.  We figured it was getting late and who says you have to hike the Rees Valley first...so off we wet up the Dart Valley instead, hoping we would find a fellow tramper hiking the 'wrong' way to drive us out in 6 days...

The Dart Valley

The Dart valley is beautiful, grassy terraces along a meandering glacial river with tall rugged peaks along both sides of the valley, some caped with snow and glaciers.  New Zealand has an intricate system of back-country huts throughout all of their National Parks, with beds (no blankets) wood burning stoves, sinks with piped in water (river or rain water) and pit toilets.  We figured that we would try the 'American' way and bring our tent (only $5 instead of $15) which worked out well because we had no rain the whole 6 days (a rarity for NZ).  However, we soon realized that tent camping is not common because there is no flat or dry place in the NZ 'bush' and we were thus forced to camp all most on the doorstep of the hut...no tent for us next time...the huts are just so nice and only $15!

Cascade Saddle and Dart Glacier

After two long days of regaining our hiking legs after beaching it in Asia we reached Dart hut and the glaciers.  We decided to take a day to enjoy the river and the grassy campsite and let our feet rest before hiking the 10 hours to Cascade saddle and the Dart Glacier.  The brake was well worth it for the bath in the ice cold river.  We set out early to the saddle the next morning.  The valley walls are so steep that the sun didn't reach us until well after 10 am and the surrounding tusucks and rock were covered in frost.  We had to scramble up old glacial moraine deposits up to the saddle but were well rewarded with amazing views of the Dart Glacier, Mt. Aspiring, and the Matukituki Valley on the other side.
We then spent the next two days hiking down the Reese valley with a German friend we made at Dart hut who, fortunately for us, had a car and a friend waiting to pick him and us up and take us back to Queenstown...no 37km hike out the road for us!

The hike up to the Reese Saddle led us through Snowy Creek valley, a scramble to reach it and then a long rolling landscape of grassy hills and a fast flowing creek, then up to Rees Saddle and the valley beyond.  The Reese Valley was much more barren than the Dart, with crumbling Schist mountains and sparse vegetation.  We saw a group of curious Kia birds, the world's only Alpine Parrot native to NZ.  They are notoriously mischievous and playful.  The last night we stayed at Shelter Rock Hut along with 25 other Kiwis starting their first day of an Easter weekend tramp...we were happy for our tent to be away from the crowds!  The last day we hiked fast in hopes of catching up with our German friend who must have ran because we only found him at the end of the tramp in the car park lounging in the sun...napping!  We drove back to Queenstown, showered, did laundry, and then met up with the two Germans again for the famous Ferger Burger, a two handed burger full of any delicious topping you can think of and fries and a beer on the side....our after tramp victory dinner!

Rees Valley

Queenstown

A beautiful city at the edge of a lake surrounded by mountains.  Famous for skiing, mountain biking, and any other adventure sports...sound familiar?  No wonder we feel so at home here!  The weather is crisp but sunny, being now into the southern hemisphere's fall.  Leaves have just started to change color and there is a dusting of snow on the mountains.  The lake is clear and cold but the strip of rocky shore-line beach is full of people soaking up the last of the summer sun, kind of like home.
So far we have been recovering from our long journey and trying to wrap our heads around the endless possibilities...backpacking (in Kiwi its called tramping), mountain biking, bungy jumping, sky diving, jet boats, river surfing, paragliding...all in our budget of course :)

New Zealand

Ahh the fresh air, the infrastructure, the drinkable tap water, the organization, the traffic laws, the quiet, the views, the mountains!
We aren't going to lie... it was quiet a relief to finally be out of the crazy, overpopulated, chaotic world that is Asia, and be back in the western world with its cleanliness and order.
After 55 hours of airports and air travel we were sick and tired but our flight over New Zealand was amazing.  From our window we could see Auckland and Egmont Volcano, the vast farmland and the mountains of the south island.  Then we flew low into Queenstown down the valley flanked by the Remarkables Mountains on one side and lake Wakatipu at the far end.  At the airport we were not hassled by taxis or hotel scouts just easy, unbiased advice from the information desk...what a breath of fresh air!

Farewell Asia

The things we love about Asia

• Soda in a bag and gasoline in a soda bottle (or a Johnny Walker black label bottle if its premium)
• re-use of anything; old tire as a garbage can, bumper, flower pot, Styrofoam bowls as a net bouy, old posters as an awning or roofing
• bamboo can be made into or used for anything
• anything you could want to eat on a stick; fruit, meat (and any innards you would like as well), rice (I know..how?), soda (frozen), ice -cream (or sandwiched between white bread), eggs (even in the shell.. not sure about that one...), egg rolls, sea food...even their houses are on sticks!
• the whole family, mom, dad, two kids, a baby, and maybe a family pet as well on one motor bike...who needs a mini van!
• alters everywhere...so many shrines with such simple offerings; a soda bottle, a stick of gum, a cigarette, rice, flowers, candy bars, incense... all for good luck, to keep the evil spirits away, to remember your ancestors, to pleases the gods...and the stray dogs :)
• Traffic! (well maybe we don't love this one!)