Catlins, NZ's Deep South, and some NZ wildlife

3/7/18

A beautiful day in Fjordland, but we needed to do some internet stuff in the morning and felt like we had to move on. We drove to Invercargill and did some shopping stuff there, then onto the Catlins. We drove to Curio bay where we scouted for rare yellow-eyed penguins. At dusk we saw 4 waddle ashore from their day of fishing. Very cute little guys! We camped that night near Haldane

I should mention that we have started calling our little campervan Bongo. She's tiny, has small wheels, but she's tough and could take us on some surprisingly rough roads. Bongo does have a traction problem, so on occasion, we had to push her out from sand or mud after a night of camping. And no one would ever mistake her for a cheetah. You definitely need a lot of open road in order to overtake a vehicle. On the other hand, boy can she sneak into tiny parking spots

3/8/18

We spent the day in the Catlins. We hiked to the southern most point in NZ, walked around a lighthouse area where we saw some huge sea lions. We headed to Curio beach where we were lucky to stumble upon a yellow-eyed penguin in broad day light. Maybe our favorite thing of the day was visiting Cathedral Caves. We hiked steeply down to these U-shaped caves (200m long) formed by wave action. We visited 2 really big caves and a couple of small ones. You have to make sure to visit these caves during low tide. Otherwise you'd be swimming amongst dangerous current and large waves to get them. As we visited at low tide, we could just walk along the beach and into the caves. However, the ocean down here is wild and unpredictable, so on a couple occasions, we got caught by some big surprise waves that got us wet and knocked some other people down. So the next time when we had to pass through that area, we sprinted at full speed to get past the waves, lest we get trapped by the waves up against the rough rocks. I made it through without a splash, but Elisha did take another wave up to her waist. When that group of rogue waves came in, there were some older folks trying to see refuge behind rocks, but still getting wet.

As we continued driving, we visited a very interesting gypsy wagon museum that Elisha loved. We hiked to Jack's Blowhole, which is this area 250m inland from the sea where you can peer down several hundred feet and see the ocean surge! This is because the ocean has created a tunnel under the land and then there must have been some sort of sinkhole here.

We drove out towards a peninsula where we watched, from a hide, 3 more yellow-eyed penguins waddle in from their daily fishing trips. We then walked out to a lighthouse and viewpoint at a place called Nugget Point (near Kaka point). The view here was beautiful with all these rock islands (called nuggets) arrayed out towards the sea from the point. We saw lots of NZ fur seals down below with cute pups playing in pools of water. On the way back, we stopped once more at the hide and saw 2 more penguins. We had dinner and wine by the ocean and then camped at Balcutha.

3/9/18

Drove to Dunedin in the morning. We walked a bit in the historic city centre. We spent a good portion of the day at Dunedin's very nice library while I worked on my paper. We had a late Thai lunch and then drove out to the Otago Peninsula. We saw lots of Royal Albatrosses flying about! Their wingspan is just so huge! It feels like watching airplanes. I paid to go up to a hide where I could see the nesting area and even 5 chicks. But the best is watching them fly and soar and zoom through the air and around the cliffs. Once it got dark, we went to a night time viewing (lit by man-made light at an intensity and wavelength that doesn't bother the penguins) of blue penguins. The parents came ashore in "rafts" after a day of fishing. The chicks wait patiently for the parents to come feed them, except for one funny chick (which Elisha named Bilbo Beggins, after the Lord of the Rings character Bilbo Baggins) which ran out from the tall grass any time an adult penguin to shore and really harassed the adult trying to get food from it. It was funny to watch, and it squawked like crazy. In all, we probably saw about 30 blue penguins come ashore. That night we camped out on the Otago peninsula.

3/10/18

We hung out around the Otago peninsula b/c it was a very nice day. We visited a couple of beaches, then hiked to some cool cliff overlooks (Chasm and Lover's Leap). We also did a cool hike (all in bare feet) from Sandymount to Sandfly beach. It was an interesting hike on a sandy mountain with dense vegetation that ended with crossing small sand dunes to get down to the beach. The beach was nice with a couple sea lions sprawled across it. We spent the afternoon in Dunedin where we ate some Korean for lunch and then drove to the mystical rocks of Moeraki. They are these crazy, giant, perfectly round boulders (~3-4 feet in diameter) strewn upon the beach. Camped the night outside of Ranfurly.

Magical Fjordland, Kepler Great Walk, and Milford Sound

3/2/18

We drove to Te Anau and then into beautiful Fjordland NP. We  hiked up to magical Marion lake, which sits at the foot of a glaciated peak with waterfalls coming down the side. I had a super vivid memory of a lake I hiked to in the rain and mud with my dad on our trip to NZ as a little kid. I remember reaching a lake and then all of a sudden, and just for a second, it cleared a bit. Rays of sunshine streamed through illuminating a big peak and a bunch of waterfalls. I am now convinced that lake Marion was that place. So it was really great to go back! It's a beautiful area with misty mountains and and enchanting rainforest. It was so inviting I even went for a swim in the chilly glacial waters. That night we camped in the Egleston valley in Fjordland NP, surrounded by mtn views.

3/3/18

A very rainy morning in Te Anau, so we hung out at the visitors center for Fjordland NP. After lunch, we started the Kepler Track, another of NZ's great walks. At first the trail skirted along Te Anau lake, then went sharply up through the rainforest. It was misty and kind of raining, but also hot and humid. We were not getting wet from the rain, but drenched from our sweat. Eventually we got above tree line where it was much cooler. We walked in a thick cloud above tree line for several miles before arriving at Luxmore hut. A nice hut that on clear days would have an amazing view. Occasionally the clouds lifted a bit to reveal Lake Te Anau below as well as some misty mountains. During the night if poured hard at times.

3/4/18

It was raining hard in the morning, so we hung out at the hut and read. We started the hike after lunch and ended up having pretty good weather w/ nice lake, ridge, and mountain views. We climbed to the top of Mt. Luxmore, which had some nice views of the lake as well as a big rainbow. Most of the rest of the hike was above tree line as a cool ridge walk. There were mountains all around. People at the hut the night before had been really worried about the ridge walk. I mean it was a ridge, but the drop offs weren't that crazy and the ridge was pretty wide on a nice trail. Nothing Elisha and I would every think twice about. Instead, we liked how nice the views around were. B/c we started so late, we ended up having the trail mostly to ourselves and having the better weather. Several months later when hiking along a truly crazy ridge in French Polynesia, we would laugh at what all the worriers on this trail would have thought about that hike. B/c all we kept hearing about was "the ridge". Eventually we descended steeply to the Iris Burn hut where we would stay the night. At the great walk huts, around dinner every night, the warden gives a hut talk. This is one of my favorite things about staying in a hut. You get to hear their wisdom, their humor, and often their take and philosophy on life. Always entertaining.

3/5/18

A very beautiful weather day. We hiked through the Iris Burn Valley full of rainforest with the occasional view up to the mountains and cascading waterfalls above. We had lunch at Moturua hut which sits on the shores of Lake Manapuri. I went for a swim, and then we had the last bit of hiking through the rainforest to the end of the trail. We hitched a ride back to our van. We had icecream in town, and I don't mean the $4 tourist icecream cones, I mean we bought a whole liter of icecream at the grocery store and mowed it down in the parking lot. We also got some fish and chips and a shower. That night we drove into fjordlands NP to camp.

3/6/18

Today we drove the Milford road over the divide pass, through the homer tunnel, and into Milford Sound stopping at various viewpoints along the way. Near the pass we were 'attacked' but Keas (new zealand's parrot) looking for food. The drive included some glaciers, very impressive steep and granite peaks, as well as some waterfalls. When we reached the other side, we walked around the milford nature trail, enjoying the views of the fjord and the very famous Mitre peak. Around noon the sun came out just in time for our fjord cruise! The cruise was amazing and well worth it! Beautiful scenery with towering walls and mountains around us in the narrow fjord. There were lots of waterfalls all around, including one that they took the ship right under where those of us who stayed on the bow got drenched. The boat took us out to the open ocean before returning back to the fjord. Also some cool animal life along the way. We saw several groups of fur seals sunning themselves on rocks and a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Truly a spectacular boat ride. On the drive back, we hiked up to the top of Key Summit for some cloudy, but nice views. This trail to Key Summit was along part of the trail we would have ended on had we done the whole Routeburn circuit instead of doing the out and back. We camped at our 3rd different campsite in Fjordland NP

Routeburn Track: Our first 'great walk'

2/28/18
NZ has 9 great walks. These are walks that are of considerable beauty and diversity as well as good trails that allow for people of moderate fitness to be able to complete them. They also have the fanciest of NZ's huts, with wardens managing most of them. The great walks aren't more special than other great walks, they just have better infrastructure and trails, and they were created in part, I believe, to focus tourists towards several trails while keeping the many other trails relatively free from the average tourist that doesn't have the dedication to finding other amazing trails, can't read a map, and could put themselves at major risk in the wilderness from lack of preparedness and skills. I think this is a good plan. 90% of hiking tourists to NZ focus on the great walks, which means most of the other trails we did had relatively little traffic and booking huts were pretty easy. For the great walks, I had to book the huts 7-8 months in advance. The most famous, Milford Track, books up over a year in advance. However, other huts we visited, we were able to just show up at, and sometimes had the huts alone. The great walks also serve as a primary way that the NZ department of conservation makes money from tourists. Almost all of NZ's national parks and dept of conservation (DOC) parks are free. However, huts on great walks range from $40-90 kiwi dollars per night per person. And they are almost always full throughout the main tourist season, so it's a great way for them to make money, which I think is a good plan. The DOC manages over 950 huts in NZ. With other agencies managing huts, NZ has >1200 huts! That is amazing!! I love huts, especially in a place like NZ where it can rain a lot, so it's nice to have a dry place to shelter as opposed to a potentially wet tent. It also makes for a lighter pack with no tent or mat needed and often less extra dry clothes. The DOC has 4 levels of huts in NZ. The great walk huts, which are expensive but very cush. They even have gas and stoves for cooking provided. Serviced huts are $15 kiwi dollars. Serviced huts have mattresses, water supply, toilets, hand washing facilities, and heating available with fuel. They may have cooking facilities with fuel and a warden. Standard huts are $5. They have mattresses, water supply, and toilets. They too have wood stoves (but only below treeline..or bushline as it's called in NZ). Basic huts are free and provide basic shelter. Besides DOC huts, there are also many huts managed by private alpine organizations or ski clubs.

Because you have to book great walks in advance, thus removing some freedom in travel, and because of how expensive they are, but b/c we did want to experience some, we decided to only do 2 of them, 2 of the more famous alpine ones.

Today we started on the Routeburn track. It starts in Mt. Aspiring NP and ends in Fjordland NP. They recommend doing it in 3 days, but we had plans to do it in 2 days because the trail is relatively easy and we're pretty fit. The beginning of the hike was through pretty rainforest (a paradise for Elisha's Mr. Gnome) and along a glacial blue rushing river. Eventually we climbed more steeply up to Routeburn Falls Hut, which sat right at tree line and had nice views down the valley. Our plan was to spend the night there, then the next day hike the rest of the route to the end, where we would have to hitchhike back to queenstown and then the trail head. However, the weather forecast showed that the next day, our day up the pass and in the alpine, was going to be rainy with gale winds. So we decided to do a huge out and back today to see all the pretty sections in nicer weather and then have an easy day back to the van the next day, thus eliminating the need to hitchhike.

So we hiked up the pass to Harris Saddle, past pretty Harris lake. There were lots of waterfalls along the way. From the pass, we hiked to the top of Conical peak for amazing 360 degree views including Harris lake, the Hollyford valley, lots of glaciated peaks and even the ocean and a fjord. After descending the little peak, we hike the long alpine section with the valley a steep drop below and the glaciated peaks just across the valley. We eventually reached the overlook for McKenzie Lake, a pretty green lake at the foot of very rocky mountains. McKenzie lake is where most people stay who are doing the trek in 3 days. From McKenzie lake it's just a few miles through forest to the fjordland trailhead (we would do a chunk of this hike while climbing to a view several days later when we were in fjordland). We decided the view from above McKenzie lake would be better than being down there, so from there we turned around to go back up the pass and back to our hut. We hiked the last couple of miles in a mild sprinkle and arrived to the hut just as it started raining. The hut warden was Australian, and he was really cool. He seemed to like Elisha and I, and he gave us his personal book on the huts of NZ to look at overnight. It's such a sweet book!

3/1/18

We woke up to rain at the hut and mist views. We hiked back down to our campervan and then started the drive back to Queenstown. We stopped at Glenorchy and Lake Wakatipu, which had nice views, along the way. In Q-town we did some grocery shopping and eating of dominos pizza while we did laundry at the laundromat. That night we camped alongside Lake Wakatipo.

Magic Mountain Vistas at Mt. Cook

2/26/18

We woke up to beautiful views of the mountains and lake as a fog was burning off where we camped. We drove onto Lake Pukaki which had more beautiful mountain views, including Mt. Cook (NZ's tallest peak). Lake Pukaki is also a surreal blue color, much like one would imagine belonging to the Caribbean. We drove alongside the lake until we arrived at Mt. Cook village, which is dominated by Mt. Cook in the background. We picked up our hut permits at the visitor center and then hiked up the steep (but mostly staired, first 1/2 of the hike is 2100 straight stairs.) trail to Mueller hut. The entire hike had stunning views of mount cook, mt sefton, and the glaciers clinging to the steep faces of the surrounding mountains. We reached the bright red hut in the afternoon. It of course had the same views. We relaxed for a bit on the sunny deck and then hiked to the top of Mt. Olliver, which was the very first peak that Sir Edmund Hillary (First person to summit Mt. Everest) climbed. The Mueller hut sits up in the alpine, surrounded by the big peaks with great views of Mt. Cook and the glaciers. In fact, we could often hear the glaciers creaking and moaning. In the evening we walked to the ridge of Mt. Olliver and watched an unreal sunset.

2/27/18

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. We were above a thick sea of clouds obscuring the valleys below. Mt. Cook and the other peaks glowed pink as they rose up through the sea of clouds. After we packed up, we hiked into the dense clouds below. In the campground at the base, we ran into Danny Gregory and Irene (friends from McM). From Mt. Cook Village, we drove to Queenstown, which included a cool canyon drive and going past some of NZ's wineries. In Queenstown, we shopped and showered at their rec center. Queenstown is surrounded by jagged peaks and has a huge lake as well. There are a couple famous ski resorts near to the town as well as great mtn biking. It's famous for being one of the adventure capitals of the world. I decided I wanted to move to Queenstown! We cooked dinner along the shores of the lake and watched a burning red sunset. We then drove to Mt. Aspiring NP where we spent the night.

Mount Discovery Snow Report

This is long overdue, but saw it in my drafts and decided to post it

One day when we had a lot of snow, I wrote a fake ski report for Mt. Discovery, which sits across the bay. Because it has glaciers running down the length of it interspersed by volcanic patches, it looks like ski runs, so we always imagine it's a ski area

Bring out the fat skis! It’s a powder day! All runs on SE aspects are skiing incredibly. Expect waist deep powder. NW aspects are wind blown and a bit icy. It’s cold out there today, so bring extra cash to buy fire water and hot cocoa. And bring along a snow bunny for après ski snuggling.

Summit Base: 56”

Mid-mountain base: 41”

Base (Discovery glacier): ¾ mile

48 hr snow: 14”

24 hr snow: 8”

Drifting snow: 37”

Lifts open: 5 of 6

Runs open: 27 of 31

Groomer’s choice: Shackleton Trail

*Note the emperor penguin ski team will be training on Scott’s Slide today, so it’s closed to the general public

Lunch menu:

Roasted skua with a side of giant isopod

Seal blubber soup and tater tots

Special of the day: Owners of Piston Bullies get buy 1 get 1 lift tickets

Insanity members, flash your abs to a liftie for some free schwag!

As always, skiers under 17 are free.

Meal special: All expired cliff bars 75% off

Après ski deal: $2 off any well drink with glacial ice (due to high demand all sierra nevadas are $3 more per bottle.

Great lodging deals can be had as well at the nearby metropolis of McMurdo Station. You can stay 4 nights in the plush 207 dorm room for only 54 hours of dish pit, or upgrade to bayside 209 for a mere 54 hours of toilet duty

For you non-skiers, enjoy the wonderful opportunity to dive tend at new harbor! 30 minute sessions start at just $59.99

*note, the dog-sled adventure remains closed until further notice. (treaty ends 2048)

Due to the great conditions on the mountain today, we expect sno-mo parking to fill up, so carpool via hagglund or helo over if you’re able.

Aurthur's Pass National Park and Avalanche Peak

I never really had time to blog while I was in NZ on our campervan trip, but I did keep a little diary. Because my blog is a good way for me to remember my trips and easy to access when I can't remember something, I'm going to write in my diary entries. They won't be super detailed because I don't want to spend ages during the summer working on this, but will give a gist of what we did. Also, I'm not going to be uploading photos, but in the future I will be putting all the photos up on facebook that you can check later.


2/21/18
We were delayed in McM a day due to tropical cyclone Gita hitting New Zealand

2/22/18

We were transported in the VIP section of the Kress on perhaps Shuttle Bob's last airport transport, as rumor had it that it was his last season. We arrived late into Christchurch, and we were put up in the *fancy* crowne plaza hotel

2/23/18

I had my doctor's appointment for the groin injury that I was still suffering from. I think she suspected a hernia and had me make an appt for an ultrasound in queenstown. We headed to the CDC and mailed some stuff home, and then headed to pick up our campervan at Rental Car Village. They had an incredibly cheap price on their vans (and came with recommendations from Linnah and Carolyn). Our van was a little Mazda Bongo. Slightly larger perhaps than our van in Iceland, but tiny all the same. To put it in perspective, the length of the car was shorter than my subaru (though my subaru has a lot of length in its nose) and definitely narrower than my suby. However, having a small car on the narrow roads of NZ is not necessarily a bad thing, nor is getting good gas milage in a country where gas was $2 NZ/ liter or roughly $6ish per gallon. We did some shopping at the cheap grocery store I had found, which would become one of Elisha's favorite (Pak'n'Save). We drove to Arthur's Pass NP that night to camp.

2/24/18

We climbed Avalanche peak. We had gorgeous views of the snow-capped and glaciated peaks of Arthur's Pass NP and the glacially carved valleys below. Interestingly, we had climbed that very peak with Jerod and Monica back in 2012 when Elisha and I were still unsure of each other...well, I was pretty sure, but her...haha. That year we travelled in a motorhome together with Jerod, Monica, and Shuttle Shafer for 1 week before going our separate ways and wondering if we'd be back to Antarctica and back together. The rest is history I suppose. Anyways, when we hiked it that day we had gorgeous views....of fog! From the top we couldn't see much more than a couple of feet in front of us. We were much luckier today! Actually we did hike a bit in the fog, but it cleared about the time I reached the top to reveal glorious views!
Here's the blog from our time in NZ together several years ago:  http://travisjguy.blogspot.com/2012/02/campervanning-around-new-zealand-with.html

After the hike, we dipped our sore feet in the ice cold river and then continued down the valley. We stopped to walk around Cave stream, which is a hike you can do through a cave that a stream has carved out. We had done it on our previous trip, so decided not to do it this time. From there we drove to the Rakaia gorge area near Mt Hutt where we camped the night hidden away by some reservoir power plant

2/25/18

In the morning we drove to the little village of Mt. Somers (not in the mountains) and then took a remote dirt road, that had several river fords) to the Erewhon valley and Erewhon station. There were beautiful mountain views in this desolate valley and plenty of bone rattling ruts in the road. A true end of the world feeling. We parked and hiked to the top of a little hill known as Mt. Sunday. The wind was intense here! Would blow you over if you stood up. Mt. Sunday is famous because it is the filming location for Edoras in the Lord of the Rings. Neither Elisha nor I are huge Lord of the Rings fans, but we did watch the trilogy on my laptop while traveling through NZ, and it was cool to see many of the places where it was filmed throughout NZ.

In my opinion, the Lord of the Rings (combined with social media) has probably ruined NZ a bit. There will be more on this in a later blog, but NZ is overrun by tourists. More tourists than this country with a small population can handle. The locals are on edge from all the tourists, the most scenic areas can be over run, and nature itself is struggling in certain areas. I think visitation to NZ doubled or tripled or something crazy b/c of Lord of the Rings. It was definitely a different place--in terms of camper freedoms and friendliness of locals--than I remember from when my family spent 2 months campervanning through NZ in 1990. Of course, what would I know as a 6 year old, but having talked with my parents, we did get the idea that our experiences were much different. I don't blame the kiwis. The overcrowding due to tourists is not unique to NZ. Colorado is also overrun by tourists these days as well, and I believe it's negatively affecting the camping. This past May when we visited Zion, the awesome free campsite that Bro and I had stayed in back in 2011 was now closed to camping b/c of it being ruined by too many campers.

After the scenic Erewhon valley, we headed to Lake Tekapo (or lake take a poo as Elisha likes to call it). It's a beautiful and huge lake with a mtn backdrop. There is a pretty little chapel at the outlet of the lake. We had some NZ chips and then camped at a spot overlooking the lake.