10/3/19-10/11/19
Had the week to spend in Estes Park with my family. Highlights included spending a night in Denver after going to Howl at the Moon a SUPER fun piano bar in Denver. Zach and his gf Mary came down to spend the night too. The whole family had fun dancing, singing, and drinking buckets. Mom had secured us a special VIP thing too, so we got $1 drinks and free buffet before 9. Oh and Dave Pfieffer came too. Mom and Dad danced until almost 11 and the rest of us stayed out til 1am. The next day we went tailgating and to the CU vs AZ game. It was a good and close game, but CU lost. We then went out to pearl street to watch some street performers and eat Indian food.
I spent a lot of the week working. I had A LOT to do. I had a skype meeting regarding my paper with Todd; I had a post Borneo wrap-up skype meeting with Wayne as well as other Oceanic Society paperwork to do post trip; I had to put in 30 hours of work for my Antarctic job; do random other life chores before going to McM; and then of course pack. But within that time, I managed to take a hike with mom and Elisha (the glacier gorge to alberta falls to loch vale lake to lake haihaya, to dream lake to bear lake loop). Also took a couple drives to look at fall colors. And went a couple of times to town and into the park with Elisha and mom to walk and watch the elk rut and bugle. We also managed to get ice cream downtown! So definitely kept busy. Way too short of a time, especially with all the work I had to do, but we did a lot! Oh, and mom made lots of yummy meals including skirt steak and fondue and cookie dough! It snowed on the day that Mom took Elisha to the airport, which made the fall colors extra beautiful in the white.
10/12/19
Mom dropped me off at the airport and flew to Houston. Then it was from Houston on the 15 hour flight to Auckland
10/13/19
Day lost crossing the International Date Line
10/14/19
I arrived in the morning to Auckland, and then had a connecting flight to Christchurch. I arrived to Christchurch just hours after Elisha had left, just narrowly missing her! (Just like last year) After dropping off my camping gear and such at the Antarctic center, I went to check in at my hotel. I'm staying at the Rendezvous, which is quite nice. After doing some computer work and trying to get my laptop up to snuff, I went for a hike around the botanic garden. It was chilly out, but the botanic gardens were beautiful. There were SO many ducklings out, and I even caught 1. Right before my walk, I had gotten a text from Marci saying that her boyfriend Dan, who works on the flight line at McM said Elisha's flight had boomeranged (turned around)! I was so excited. I called the Antarctic Centre to find out when the flight would be coming back and then arranged for them to put her in my room at my hotel. Geez, I was excited! I waited for her, and eventually she made it to the hotel around 8 or so. I was waiting for her with a cold beer, and then we went out to the Little High where we split Japanese ramen and Thai curry. Her flight had boomeranged because a crack in the windshield. They were descending down to McM when they realized it. They didn't want to have to deal with the repair in McM, so they turned around. This mean we knew that Elisha would be delayed until at least Thursday, the 17th, and me likely until the 18th. Woohooo!
10/15/19
I had training most of the day, and Elisha hung out and did her own thing around Christchurch. She hiked out to Taylor's Mistake coastal walk, which she really loves. Marci and I had burritos for lunch. After my training, Elisha and Marci and I went out for appetizers of dumplings at a famous dumpling place here. Then for dinner, Elisha and I went on a date to my favorite Thai restaurant in Christchurch--Mama Ree's.
10/16/19
It was to be a beautiful day, so we rented a car. We drove up to Arthur's Pass into the beautiful and snowcapped mountains. We ended up getting a recommendation to hike to Bealey Top Mountain via the Bealey Top Hut track. It was a beautiful hike with stunning views of all the snow-capped peaks (including Avalanche peak, which we had climbed before) and the braided glacial river valleys below. We were the only ones up on the mountain and it was just so quiet, peaceful, still, and beautiful. 360 degree views of beauty. The cabin below the mountain was a little bunked cabin, smelling strongly of fire, nestled in the woods. The hike was just under 11 miles roundtrip. We had a packed lunch of salami and cream cheese sandwiches. The drive to and from Arthurs pass is also quite beautiful being the valleys of the peaks and driving past fields of sheep. We stopped for ice cream along the way at McDonald's, but only had some snacks for dinner.
10/17/19
Slept in a bit! Elisha and I went out for breakfast at the Little High. She had an eggs benedict sandwich, and I had a pork belly bao. yum. We then took the bus to Sumner on the coast. From there we walked a bit along the beach, full of surfers, and then took the Taylor's Mistake hike up on the steep cliffs above. It was a beautiful day. The flowers were gleaming in the sun, with so many busy bees stealing nectar from the flowers. The ocean below glowed a beautiful aqua color. We eventually made it down to a beach on the other side. All in all it was about a 5 mile hike. Very scenic with so many beautiful flowers, the dramatic cliff drops to the ocean, and the sparkling aqua sea. We had lunch at a yummy fish and chips place in Sumner.
After the hike, we took the bus back to Christchurch and then another bus out past Merivale where some of my favorite cheap Asian eats are. We had delicious curry at one of my favorite thai places. We then walked to the big mall out there. I had lost my thermos mug in the rental car (I had called, but they couldn't find it), so I bought a Macpac thermos that was on sale 40% off! A mug for tea is ESSENTIAL in McMurdo.
In the evening, Elisha was getting packed and ready for her flight the next day, but then we heard her flight was delayed again! Woohoo! So we had some icecream and sat in bed catching up on youtubes from some of our favorite late night shows and I showed her some of mom's favorite AGT performances.
10/18/19
Slept in! I had tried to upgrade to the new MacOS and had some trouble, so today I spent a lot of time working on that in our room and at the library. The new Christchurch Library is really beautiful and amazing! I would have liked to be doing other things for sure, but it was a blustery and rainy day in Chirstchurch, so that's okay. I did get to talk to my mom on the phone and watch some James Corden youtubes. For breakfast I had noodles from Asian noodle company. For lunch we went out to my favorite Indian place, Himalaya. We saw in the guestbook my entries from the previous 2 years! For dinner we went to Little High. Elisha had Ramen and I had Thai curry.
10/19/19
Elisha and I went out to a cute little breakfast cafe and had delicious croissant and egg sandwiches. We then took a bus to the airport where we picked up a rental car and drove to the Banks Peninsula outside of Christchurch. It's an old volcanic caldera where the ocean has crept into the crater. We drove the summit road around the crater rim, which has beautiful views of the rugged and green crater and down to the turquoise water below. Throughout the day, we did 3 different hikes--at different locations around the crater--up to viewpoints and one little peak. The hikes were very beautiful! We had fish and chips lunch down by the bay in Akaroa village, an old french colony. After driving back to Christchurch, we ate at a nice Chinese restaurant in Riccarton.
10/20/19
Elisha left early in the morning to the Antarctic Centre for her flight. I watched the Gators in the morning, then I took a bus towards Lyttleton. Before the tunnel, I got out and hiked up the crater rim to the top, where the gondola goes. From the top are spectacular views. On one side you can look down on the turquoise waters of of Lyttleton harbor with its big cargo ships at port. On another side you can see out to the great blue ocean. On the other side you can look down on the CBD of Christchurch and farther afield are the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps. If you look along the coastline, you can even see the snowy peaks behind Kaikoura. Sweeping 360 degree views! After taking in the views, I hiked up to the top of a little peak, and then I descended down to Lyttleton port. I then took the bus back to Christchurch. I had lunch at a Hawaiian place that was delicious. In the afternoon I did some business stuff that needed to be done while I had fast internet and also watched the Buffs. Then it was dinner at a Thai place downtown.
10/21/19
Had a last NZ meal--breakfast--at McDonalds before the flight to McMurdo. It was a pretty full flight with Aussies, Italians, Kiwis, Brits, Canadians, and USAP. Also a helicopter on the flight. The C-17 doesn't have many windows, but I did sneak to the back to look at the beautiful landscape of ice and mountains as we reached the continent.
Right away we were thrown into the activities of McMurdo. Recently the first ever all female space walk occurred up at the international space station. The 2 women who did it are Antarctic alumni (Jessica Meir and Christina Koch). Jessica worked as a tech for a penguin researcher and Christina worked in operations of some sort at the South Pole. Anyways, Jessica, video called us in the galley from space and gave us a fascinating tour of the space station. She was a very good speaker, and it was funny to watch her try to drink floating water droplets and float around through the station.But such a cool experience!
Had the week to spend in Estes Park with my family. Highlights included spending a night in Denver after going to Howl at the Moon a SUPER fun piano bar in Denver. Zach and his gf Mary came down to spend the night too. The whole family had fun dancing, singing, and drinking buckets. Mom had secured us a special VIP thing too, so we got $1 drinks and free buffet before 9. Oh and Dave Pfieffer came too. Mom and Dad danced until almost 11 and the rest of us stayed out til 1am. The next day we went tailgating and to the CU vs AZ game. It was a good and close game, but CU lost. We then went out to pearl street to watch some street performers and eat Indian food.
I spent a lot of the week working. I had A LOT to do. I had a skype meeting regarding my paper with Todd; I had a post Borneo wrap-up skype meeting with Wayne as well as other Oceanic Society paperwork to do post trip; I had to put in 30 hours of work for my Antarctic job; do random other life chores before going to McM; and then of course pack. But within that time, I managed to take a hike with mom and Elisha (the glacier gorge to alberta falls to loch vale lake to lake haihaya, to dream lake to bear lake loop). Also took a couple drives to look at fall colors. And went a couple of times to town and into the park with Elisha and mom to walk and watch the elk rut and bugle. We also managed to get ice cream downtown! So definitely kept busy. Way too short of a time, especially with all the work I had to do, but we did a lot! Oh, and mom made lots of yummy meals including skirt steak and fondue and cookie dough! It snowed on the day that Mom took Elisha to the airport, which made the fall colors extra beautiful in the white.
10/12/19
Mom dropped me off at the airport and flew to Houston. Then it was from Houston on the 15 hour flight to Auckland
10/13/19
Day lost crossing the International Date Line
10/14/19
I arrived in the morning to Auckland, and then had a connecting flight to Christchurch. I arrived to Christchurch just hours after Elisha had left, just narrowly missing her! (Just like last year) After dropping off my camping gear and such at the Antarctic center, I went to check in at my hotel. I'm staying at the Rendezvous, which is quite nice. After doing some computer work and trying to get my laptop up to snuff, I went for a hike around the botanic garden. It was chilly out, but the botanic gardens were beautiful. There were SO many ducklings out, and I even caught 1. Right before my walk, I had gotten a text from Marci saying that her boyfriend Dan, who works on the flight line at McM said Elisha's flight had boomeranged (turned around)! I was so excited. I called the Antarctic Centre to find out when the flight would be coming back and then arranged for them to put her in my room at my hotel. Geez, I was excited! I waited for her, and eventually she made it to the hotel around 8 or so. I was waiting for her with a cold beer, and then we went out to the Little High where we split Japanese ramen and Thai curry. Her flight had boomeranged because a crack in the windshield. They were descending down to McM when they realized it. They didn't want to have to deal with the repair in McM, so they turned around. This mean we knew that Elisha would be delayed until at least Thursday, the 17th, and me likely until the 18th. Woohooo!
10/15/19
I had training most of the day, and Elisha hung out and did her own thing around Christchurch. She hiked out to Taylor's Mistake coastal walk, which she really loves. Marci and I had burritos for lunch. After my training, Elisha and Marci and I went out for appetizers of dumplings at a famous dumpling place here. Then for dinner, Elisha and I went on a date to my favorite Thai restaurant in Christchurch--Mama Ree's.
10/16/19
It was to be a beautiful day, so we rented a car. We drove up to Arthur's Pass into the beautiful and snowcapped mountains. We ended up getting a recommendation to hike to Bealey Top Mountain via the Bealey Top Hut track. It was a beautiful hike with stunning views of all the snow-capped peaks (including Avalanche peak, which we had climbed before) and the braided glacial river valleys below. We were the only ones up on the mountain and it was just so quiet, peaceful, still, and beautiful. 360 degree views of beauty. The cabin below the mountain was a little bunked cabin, smelling strongly of fire, nestled in the woods. The hike was just under 11 miles roundtrip. We had a packed lunch of salami and cream cheese sandwiches. The drive to and from Arthurs pass is also quite beautiful being the valleys of the peaks and driving past fields of sheep. We stopped for ice cream along the way at McDonald's, but only had some snacks for dinner.
10/17/19
Slept in a bit! Elisha and I went out for breakfast at the Little High. She had an eggs benedict sandwich, and I had a pork belly bao. yum. We then took the bus to Sumner on the coast. From there we walked a bit along the beach, full of surfers, and then took the Taylor's Mistake hike up on the steep cliffs above. It was a beautiful day. The flowers were gleaming in the sun, with so many busy bees stealing nectar from the flowers. The ocean below glowed a beautiful aqua color. We eventually made it down to a beach on the other side. All in all it was about a 5 mile hike. Very scenic with so many beautiful flowers, the dramatic cliff drops to the ocean, and the sparkling aqua sea. We had lunch at a yummy fish and chips place in Sumner.
After the hike, we took the bus back to Christchurch and then another bus out past Merivale where some of my favorite cheap Asian eats are. We had delicious curry at one of my favorite thai places. We then walked to the big mall out there. I had lost my thermos mug in the rental car (I had called, but they couldn't find it), so I bought a Macpac thermos that was on sale 40% off! A mug for tea is ESSENTIAL in McMurdo.
In the evening, Elisha was getting packed and ready for her flight the next day, but then we heard her flight was delayed again! Woohoo! So we had some icecream and sat in bed catching up on youtubes from some of our favorite late night shows and I showed her some of mom's favorite AGT performances.
10/18/19
Slept in! I had tried to upgrade to the new MacOS and had some trouble, so today I spent a lot of time working on that in our room and at the library. The new Christchurch Library is really beautiful and amazing! I would have liked to be doing other things for sure, but it was a blustery and rainy day in Chirstchurch, so that's okay. I did get to talk to my mom on the phone and watch some James Corden youtubes. For breakfast I had noodles from Asian noodle company. For lunch we went out to my favorite Indian place, Himalaya. We saw in the guestbook my entries from the previous 2 years! For dinner we went to Little High. Elisha had Ramen and I had Thai curry.
10/19/19
Elisha and I went out to a cute little breakfast cafe and had delicious croissant and egg sandwiches. We then took a bus to the airport where we picked up a rental car and drove to the Banks Peninsula outside of Christchurch. It's an old volcanic caldera where the ocean has crept into the crater. We drove the summit road around the crater rim, which has beautiful views of the rugged and green crater and down to the turquoise water below. Throughout the day, we did 3 different hikes--at different locations around the crater--up to viewpoints and one little peak. The hikes were very beautiful! We had fish and chips lunch down by the bay in Akaroa village, an old french colony. After driving back to Christchurch, we ate at a nice Chinese restaurant in Riccarton.
10/20/19
Elisha left early in the morning to the Antarctic Centre for her flight. I watched the Gators in the morning, then I took a bus towards Lyttleton. Before the tunnel, I got out and hiked up the crater rim to the top, where the gondola goes. From the top are spectacular views. On one side you can look down on the turquoise waters of of Lyttleton harbor with its big cargo ships at port. On another side you can see out to the great blue ocean. On the other side you can look down on the CBD of Christchurch and farther afield are the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps. If you look along the coastline, you can even see the snowy peaks behind Kaikoura. Sweeping 360 degree views! After taking in the views, I hiked up to the top of a little peak, and then I descended down to Lyttleton port. I then took the bus back to Christchurch. I had lunch at a Hawaiian place that was delicious. In the afternoon I did some business stuff that needed to be done while I had fast internet and also watched the Buffs. Then it was dinner at a Thai place downtown.
10/21/19
Had a last NZ meal--breakfast--at McDonalds before the flight to McMurdo. It was a pretty full flight with Aussies, Italians, Kiwis, Brits, Canadians, and USAP. Also a helicopter on the flight. The C-17 doesn't have many windows, but I did sneak to the back to look at the beautiful landscape of ice and mountains as we reached the continent.
Right away we were thrown into the activities of McMurdo. Recently the first ever all female space walk occurred up at the international space station. The 2 women who did it are Antarctic alumni (Jessica Meir and Christina Koch). Jessica worked as a tech for a penguin researcher and Christina worked in operations of some sort at the South Pole. Anyways, Jessica, video called us in the galley from space and gave us a fascinating tour of the space station. She was a very good speaker, and it was funny to watch her try to drink floating water droplets and float around through the station.But such a cool experience!
2 comments:
Travis, Enjoyed this blog full of activities from Denver & into your flight -finally- to McM. So glad that you and E. were able to spend those days in NZ together. The food stops made me hungry for breakfast so...I made a Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl that was actually good!! Ha.
Hope you enjoyed your breakfast bowl!!
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