2/20/20
Flew on the C-17 to Christchurch. We arrived around 10:30pm and took the shuttle to the Rendezvous hotel downtown. I had a nice room on the 13th floor with great views!
2/21/20
I packed and organized in the morning, went out for tasty Thai for lunch, and then walked a bit around Christchurch doing some errands.
Often people talk about how when they land in New Zealand they really notice the humidity, the green, the smell of dirt, and pets/kids. Some things I noticed upon arrival to the "real world" 1. In the shuttle it felt like we were going so fast! (15mph is the top speed in McMurdo). 2. How many people, even on a Friday, were just lounging around. In McM we work so much that you hardly see people lounging, plus the cold keeps you from lounging even during free time. 3. So many people, like EVERYONE was on their smart phone. It seemed like more than usual.
I picked up our rental car (microcamper: a station wagon where you sleep in the back), did some shopping, then drove up to Arthurs Pass NP.
2/22/20
Because of very heavy rain overnight, I changed my plan from hiking to Barker Hut to doing the Edwards-Howdon loop. Day 1 was a hike up the river valley to Howden Hut. It was a nice walk up the river valley with many river crossings that I did Kiwi style (keep your shoes on and just walk through)--about 6 or 7 crossings of the big river, but none over thigh height. The hut was nice. It sprinkled a bit on the walk up and rained at night. Elisha arrived to Christchurch late tonight.
2/23/20
Bluebird day for a gorgeous hike that involved 3 passes. I went by some picturesque tarns and from the biggest pass, I could see glaciated peaks. I also climbed to the top of a little peak. Again, lots of river crossings. At one point, I hiked up a narrow river gorge, crossing back and forth across the river. From the high pass it was a crazy steep walk down to the river valley. Then I had to go over this monster pile of rock debris that was created when an earthquake in 1929 cause 1/2 of falling mountain to collapse. Then it was an easy walk down a wide river valley to Edwards Hut. The day was amazing with the beautiful weather and views and lots of waterfalls. I spent the afternoon reading in the grass in the sunshine. I thought I was going to have the hut to myself, but 4 fun kiwi guys showed up right before dark.
2/24/20
I hiked out from Edwards hut to the road. I hitchhiked a ride and was picked up by a Korean and German. They dropped me off at the turnoff to the trailhead, so I dropped my pack and ran the last 4km to the car.
I drove back to Chch where I picked up Elisha. We drove back up to Arthurs Pass NP where we camped in the campervan for the night.
2/25/20
We started at Klondyke Corner and hiked to Carrington Hut. Of course lots of river crossings. And more beautiful weather, so we could see the beautiful glaciated mountains as we walked up the braided river valley. Of course lots of river crossings, a few decently deep, up to mid thigh.
When we arrived to Carrington Hut, I hiked up to Harmon Pass while Elisha relaxed at the hut. IT was a cool trip, going up a steep gorge where there were many river crossings in a fast flowing/cascading but small river. Waterfalls were coming down from the gorge all around. There were nice views from the top. It was supposed to take 6 hours roundtrip, but I did it in 3 hours because Elisha wanted me to hustle back as she would worry.
There were only 3 other people (all kiwis) in the rather large hut. Last year, we actually spent 2 nights at Carrington hut all by ourselves.
2/26/20
We hiked up to Barker hut, a tiny Alpine Hut situated below 4 glaciers and on top of a huge rock outcrop. There was a little tarn next to it, and the well-insulated hut had superb views. When we reached the hut, I went for a swim in the tarn before lunch. The tarn didn't have an outlet, so it wasn't glacial cold (also b/c of this, is this where I got my ear infection that developed in Vanuatu?). After lunch we hiked up to Marmeduke-Dixon Glacier and then to White Glacier. From there I hiked up to the top of White Col, which had great views. We spent the evening enjoying the hut and its views. We were the only one up there, save for about 20 loud and curious Kea (mountain parrots). The scenery in the area was just so amazing, and so awesome that we were the only ones up there.
2/27/20
It was foggy and windy in the morning, but the kea were there to wake us up. We began the long journey back to the car via a lunch stop at Carrington hut. The journey in and out is difficult b/c there is no trail, so you have to find your way. There are lots of river crissings, lots and lots of river bed walking, steep side-hilling, scree walking, and overall very few easy spots. The water the whole journey is a magnificent color of blue! On the way back we got rained on a bit, but not too bad.
We drove to Christchurch where we stayed at a holiday park for the night and had take out Thai food.
2/28/20
Picked up our stuff at the CDC, then drove to Hanmer Springs. Hanmer Springs has a super nice hot springs with about 22 different pools, plus a lazy river, 2 body slides, and 2 tube slides. Tons of fun! A hot water waterpark! We stayed almost the entire afternoon and evening. We stayed in a little camp where we booked a night in the tiniest of huts. That way we could store all our stuff (since we had it ALL now) in the car since it wouldn't fit with us in it.
2/29/20 Leap Day!
We played a round of mini golf in Hanmer and then drove back to Christchurch where we had lunch special Thai. We dropped all our stuff at our AirBnb and then dropped the rental car off. Back at the Airbnb we reorganized our gear for our trip to Vanuatu. The Airbnb was a very nice house with a cute kitten, Mia, who liked to help us pack. The owner, Leonie, wasn't there that night, so we had the place to ourselves. We made pizza and drank some wine as we packed. Leonie is actually the mum of one of the co-authors on my pollination paper.
Flew on the C-17 to Christchurch. We arrived around 10:30pm and took the shuttle to the Rendezvous hotel downtown. I had a nice room on the 13th floor with great views!
2/21/20
I packed and organized in the morning, went out for tasty Thai for lunch, and then walked a bit around Christchurch doing some errands.
Often people talk about how when they land in New Zealand they really notice the humidity, the green, the smell of dirt, and pets/kids. Some things I noticed upon arrival to the "real world" 1. In the shuttle it felt like we were going so fast! (15mph is the top speed in McMurdo). 2. How many people, even on a Friday, were just lounging around. In McM we work so much that you hardly see people lounging, plus the cold keeps you from lounging even during free time. 3. So many people, like EVERYONE was on their smart phone. It seemed like more than usual.
I picked up our rental car (microcamper: a station wagon where you sleep in the back), did some shopping, then drove up to Arthurs Pass NP.
2/22/20
Because of very heavy rain overnight, I changed my plan from hiking to Barker Hut to doing the Edwards-Howdon loop. Day 1 was a hike up the river valley to Howden Hut. It was a nice walk up the river valley with many river crossings that I did Kiwi style (keep your shoes on and just walk through)--about 6 or 7 crossings of the big river, but none over thigh height. The hut was nice. It sprinkled a bit on the walk up and rained at night. Elisha arrived to Christchurch late tonight.
2/23/20
Bluebird day for a gorgeous hike that involved 3 passes. I went by some picturesque tarns and from the biggest pass, I could see glaciated peaks. I also climbed to the top of a little peak. Again, lots of river crossings. At one point, I hiked up a narrow river gorge, crossing back and forth across the river. From the high pass it was a crazy steep walk down to the river valley. Then I had to go over this monster pile of rock debris that was created when an earthquake in 1929 cause 1/2 of falling mountain to collapse. Then it was an easy walk down a wide river valley to Edwards Hut. The day was amazing with the beautiful weather and views and lots of waterfalls. I spent the afternoon reading in the grass in the sunshine. I thought I was going to have the hut to myself, but 4 fun kiwi guys showed up right before dark.
2/24/20
I hiked out from Edwards hut to the road. I hitchhiked a ride and was picked up by a Korean and German. They dropped me off at the turnoff to the trailhead, so I dropped my pack and ran the last 4km to the car.
I drove back to Chch where I picked up Elisha. We drove back up to Arthurs Pass NP where we camped in the campervan for the night.
2/25/20
We started at Klondyke Corner and hiked to Carrington Hut. Of course lots of river crossings. And more beautiful weather, so we could see the beautiful glaciated mountains as we walked up the braided river valley. Of course lots of river crossings, a few decently deep, up to mid thigh.
When we arrived to Carrington Hut, I hiked up to Harmon Pass while Elisha relaxed at the hut. IT was a cool trip, going up a steep gorge where there were many river crossings in a fast flowing/cascading but small river. Waterfalls were coming down from the gorge all around. There were nice views from the top. It was supposed to take 6 hours roundtrip, but I did it in 3 hours because Elisha wanted me to hustle back as she would worry.
There were only 3 other people (all kiwis) in the rather large hut. Last year, we actually spent 2 nights at Carrington hut all by ourselves.
2/26/20
We hiked up to Barker hut, a tiny Alpine Hut situated below 4 glaciers and on top of a huge rock outcrop. There was a little tarn next to it, and the well-insulated hut had superb views. When we reached the hut, I went for a swim in the tarn before lunch. The tarn didn't have an outlet, so it wasn't glacial cold (also b/c of this, is this where I got my ear infection that developed in Vanuatu?). After lunch we hiked up to Marmeduke-Dixon Glacier and then to White Glacier. From there I hiked up to the top of White Col, which had great views. We spent the evening enjoying the hut and its views. We were the only one up there, save for about 20 loud and curious Kea (mountain parrots). The scenery in the area was just so amazing, and so awesome that we were the only ones up there.
2/27/20
It was foggy and windy in the morning, but the kea were there to wake us up. We began the long journey back to the car via a lunch stop at Carrington hut. The journey in and out is difficult b/c there is no trail, so you have to find your way. There are lots of river crissings, lots and lots of river bed walking, steep side-hilling, scree walking, and overall very few easy spots. The water the whole journey is a magnificent color of blue! On the way back we got rained on a bit, but not too bad.
We drove to Christchurch where we stayed at a holiday park for the night and had take out Thai food.
2/28/20
Picked up our stuff at the CDC, then drove to Hanmer Springs. Hanmer Springs has a super nice hot springs with about 22 different pools, plus a lazy river, 2 body slides, and 2 tube slides. Tons of fun! A hot water waterpark! We stayed almost the entire afternoon and evening. We stayed in a little camp where we booked a night in the tiniest of huts. That way we could store all our stuff (since we had it ALL now) in the car since it wouldn't fit with us in it.
2/29/20 Leap Day!
We played a round of mini golf in Hanmer and then drove back to Christchurch where we had lunch special Thai. We dropped all our stuff at our AirBnb and then dropped the rental car off. Back at the Airbnb we reorganized our gear for our trip to Vanuatu. The Airbnb was a very nice house with a cute kitten, Mia, who liked to help us pack. The owner, Leonie, wasn't there that night, so we had the place to ourselves. We made pizza and drank some wine as we packed. Leonie is actually the mum of one of the co-authors on my pollination paper.
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| Falling Mtn |
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| our micro camper |
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| Barker Hut |
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| Facing the Kea in the morning |
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| Barker Hut |
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| Kea, the Mountain Parrot |
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| Elisha in Barker Hut |
