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JOURNAL 10/9/03 MK We are now in a very rainy Auckland, New Zealand. Despite the weather, we are very excited to explore “Middle-Earth” (if you didn’t know, Lord of the Rings was filmed here). We are staying at a very cute B&B in the community of Ponsonby, which is about 10 minutes from downtown Auckland. Our cab driver from the airport was a woman from India. We spoke with her about international travel and she said she would not travel to the USA because she is afraid of terrorism. She said America has many enemies and she would not want to get caught up in it. I thought it was interesting that a person, who grew up in a land neighboring a mortal enemy, was afraid of the USA.
This afternoon we spent some time is a Starbucks. Lisa asked a guy with a computer if they had Internet access and it turned out he’s from San Francisco. Small world.
We have rented a car and are leaving for the town of Tutukaka in the morning. Tutukaka is renowned as a beautiful marina town, famous for it’s deep-sea fishing, and as the entry to Poor Knights Island, which was rated by Jacque Cousteau as one of the top 10 dive spots in the world. Not wanting to simply take Jacque’s word for it, we plan to sample the diving for ourselves.
10.11/10.12.03 LK The drive to Tutukaka was beautiful. Mile after mile of incredibly green fields dotted with sheep and cows and some furry looking animal we think might be Alpaca. Unfortunately, it remained rainy and cloudy for most of the three hours north. Tutukaka is a great rural town. Hilly green countryside is offset by a rugged coastline and beautiful bright blue seas.
We had arranged to stay at a bed and breakfast owned by Michael’s friend Garth. Garth lives in Seattle but is from New Zealand and recently purchased the B&B in Tutukaka. The views from his place are spectacular. They are truly some of the most magnificent sites either of us has ever seen. Congratulations to Garth on this very special place. If you are ever in New Zealand, you must visit Garth’s place, The Lodge at Matapouri.
We had dinner in the “town/marina” at Schnappa’s Place. It was a rustic little restaurant with great ambience (pretty much everything in town can be found at the marina – the dive shop, the pizza place, the game fishing boats, etc.). The food was great – the place was a real treat. We wanted to stay and have after dinner drinks but we knew we needed to get some rest b/f our dive the next morning.
Since we were going to be diving in temperate waters like northern California, I was relieved when it was clear and sunny the next morning, a rare occurrence in New Zealand for us. Dive! Tutukaka is a really well-run operation, certainly the best that we’ve ever seen. They outfitted us with full wetsuits, jackets with hoods, and neoprene socks. I asked them to throw in an extra shorty for me, which I wore on top of everything.
The 1½ hour boat ride out to Poor Knight’s Island was one of the highlights of the day. The boat swayed up and down with the big rolling swells. Our skipper came upon a pod of dolphins and slowed down for us to see them. They swam alongside the boat for about 10-15 minutes. They were so playful, swimming right up to our boat and then under us. Thanks to the clear water we could clearly see their full bodies and beautiful coloring.
By the time we anchored at our dive site, we had seen the last of the sun. It had gotten cloudy and chilly. We geared up and stepped into the water. HELLLOOOOOOOO. This was freezing cold water. My head felt like it was about to explode. Michael and I agreed that we’d give each other a signal if we got too cold and needed to surface early. The dive was fun, but honestly it did not meet our expectations. Michael and I did see a totally exposed mosaic moray eel, two cool scorpion fish and our first stingray!
It was raining hard by the end of our dive and we were absolutely numb. Neither of us could take apart our regulators b/c we couldn’t feel our fingers! And, my feet were showing the signs of frostbite. Even after a 1 ½ hour surface interval, I was still very cold so I decided to sit out the next dive. Michael joined the dive master’s group. I’ll let him tell you about the highlights of his dive.
It poured rain all night long. One nice thing was that it was actually pretty cozy to watch such a big storm from inside Garth’s place.
10.12.03 LK We drove south from Tutukaka to Raglan on the southwestern coast of the north island. Raglan is the site of a world famous surf break – featured in the classic surf film, “Endless Summer.” It’s a really cute little town nestled in the middle of farms and a few quiet harbors just a few kilometers from the ocean. If the weather cooperates, we plan to surf tomorrow then head farther south to the Waitomo Caves.
10/11/03 MK As Lisa said, the drive to Tutukaka was beautiful. I suspect that most all driving throughout New Zealand will be pretty amazing. I would like to thank Garth MacLeod who is a friend from my InfoSpace days. Garth had sent me aerial photos of his B&B shortly after he purchased it but no photo could do it justice. Both Lisa and I were really blown away at how incredible it was.
10/12/03 MK Lisa already wrote how cold the diving was so I won’t go into that other than to say brrrrrrrr.
10/13/03 MK As we are in the town of Raglan, home to a very famous surf break, I was really hoping to get in the water today. Unfortunately, the wind is blowing something fierce so there won’t be any surfing. Plan B. We’re heading over to a place called Magic Mountain to ride horses. I’ll let you know how it goes.
10/14/03 MK Magic Mountain was incredible. It’s a farm about 15 miles outside of Raglan. The farm is located on the top of a mountain road and comprises about 160 acres. Being at the top of the mountain they have 360-degree views. It’s beautiful green farmland as far as the eye can see. They raise sheep & lamb, have 16 horses, 1 large pig named miss piggy, and they collect a fee from other ranchers who graze their cattle on the property. They also have a guesthouse where they rent rooms. The owner, Marcus, took us for a couple hour horse trek on the property. Lisa rode Johnny and I was on Charade. It was a little sketchy at first; I don’t have much horse experience, but we had a great time.
We are now in the town of Rotorua, which is a major tourist destination famous for it’s thermal hot springs, and it’s Maori culture. Maori’s are New Zealand’s indigenous people. It also reeks. If you’ve never smelled sulphur springs before, they smell amazingly like rotten eggs. The entire town of Rotorua smells like rotten eggs. Our motel room smells like rotten eggs, and I’m guessing by the time we leave on the 16th, Lisa and I will also smell like rotten eggs.
10.14.03 LK I loved the feeling of waking up in a warm cozy bed and feeling the crisp chilly air just outside of bed. The light in the morning was beautiful. You could see clear to Raglan harbor from our room. Marcus and his wife Jan brought us a basket of food for breakfast. We turned on the heater in the living room area and shared breakfast looking out over the rolling green hills. It was very special.
After breakfast, we drove down about an hour to the Waitomo area to go abseiling in the caves. (FYI, “to abseil” is also “to rappel.”) Luckily, the sun was shining so there would be no need to abseil in the rain. We abseiled 330 feet down in to the Lost World cave. It was unbelievable. You could really understand why the first Europeans to see this huge cave in the earth imagined fairies and pixies dancing below. It was a beautiful ride down to the bottom of the cave. We have some pictures that we’ll upload as soon as we get them – the homing pigeon that flew back to the office with our digital photo card did not make it back before we left! Folks from Waitomo Adventures are emailing us the photos. We saw some cool glowworms which are actually carnivorous maggots in the larvae stage, with nuclear feces! Since the larvae don’t have anuses, they store their waste in one long tube that glows to attract their prey. These “glow worms” are stuck to the roof of the cave. Insects think they are looking up to the stars and fly directly in to their deaths. It was quite a sight and great fun.
10/14/03 MK I just want to say Lisa was a champ on the abseil. It was pretty uncomfortable standing on this platform and looking straight down between our feet and the metal grating, and seeing nothing but air and the cavern walls. The bottom is 330 feet down and too dark to be visible from the top. As I said, simply standing on the platform was uncomfortable; next we had to step off of it. Once we got over the nerves, we both really enjoyed the rappel down.
10/18/03 MK We are now in the south island of New Zealand. It is considerably less populated, but possibly the greater tourist destination. Most people, including the Kiwi’s we met on the north island, say the south island is far more scenic. We spent about 1½ days in Christchurch, which is a beautiful city and the largest in the south. We rented a campervan and drove north to the town of Kaikoura, which is famous for it’s whale watching. It’s 9:30am and our boat leaves in 1 hour for a 3-hour tour. (Insert your favorite Gilligan joke here). Lisa and I are sitting in a little coffee shop downtown. When I say downtown, I mean it’s one of maybe a dozen storefronts in this very cute town. By the way, on one side of the road is the ocean. On the other, snow-capped peaks. Heaven.
10.20.02 LK The whale-watching trip in Kaikoura was great. They have a very sophisticated operation which actually only started in 1985. Apparently, a local big-game fisherman was finding that the folks he took out to sea were consistently more interested in the whales. So, he gave up big-game fishing trips and started Whale Watch. They have three specially crafted tracking vessels. Aside from tracking equipment, each boat is equipped with comfortable seats, a big flat-screened tv and computer. During our trip out of the bay and when the whales were being elusive, the Maori guide showed informative videos about the whales that feed near Kaikoura and about the region. We learned that the continental shelf a few miles from the shores of Kaikoura was forced up creating many miles of very deep reef wall where small and medium sized fish feed, thereby drawing the large fish and whales to feed.
Once again, the scenery here takes your breath away. The snow-capped mountains are in stark contrast to the bright green farmland, which slopes gently in to the bright blue sea. It is out of a storybook. The town of Kaikoura itself is just adorable. A few cute restaurants and cafes, a surf shop (key to any good town), a couple of cool taverns and an internet café make up almost the whole place.
It was fun just being on the wide expanse of the ocean. Today our captain had been tracking a lone sperm whale. Apparently, sperm whales require a huge feeding area and therefore are often found alone. We were a bit disappointed that we’d only see one whale, though we were looking forward to trying to seize the classic photo of the sperm whale as it dives back in to the sea. Once in the area of the whale, we saw a couple of cool albatross relaxing on the ocean swells. Apparently they are not a regular sighting. After tracking the whale for about an hour (they actually hold their breath for their whole dive!), she finally rose to the surface. She was beautiful to watch. For such a huge creature, it is surprising how graceful they are. She swam alongside our boat for about 15 minutes, seemingly unbothered by our presence. Sperm whales rarely breach so we never got to see her full body. And then our guide announced that he saw some subtle movements that indicated she was about to dive back down into the ocean. Michael got the much-prized shots of her tail as she descended. I caught most of her dive on video.
10/20/03 MK As Lisa said, the whale watching was pretty cool. Amazing to be alongside an animal so large.
After Kaikoura, we drove to the town on Nelson, which is on the northern tip of the south island. We camped there, and the following day drove to Abel Tasman Park where we signed up for a 2-day tramp/kayak. The Kiwi’s call hiking “tramping”. The walk was unguided and took us about 3 hours. It wasn’t very strenuous, but it was still nice to be doing something physical. Surprisingly, so far much of our trip, while being beautiful, has been fairly sedate. The tramp eventually put us on a beautiful secluded beach, which is only accessible via boat, or on foot. A woman with a small boat picked us up on the beach and transported us to a larger boat where we were to sleep that night. Something of a floating hotel. On the boat we met 3 other couples. 1 from Munich, another from London, and the third was a woman from Switzerland who now lives in NZ with her boyfriend. She taught us a card game called shithead, and we all stayed up fairly late playing. It was quite hysterical. The British guy, I believe his name was Mark, had me and Lisa stitches. British humor is so dry and sarcastic. I love it.
The following day, Lisa and I joined another group for a few-hour guided kayak up the coast. We saw a blue penguin, which swam very close by our kayak. We also saw several seals and a long-tailed stingray.
We are now at a campsite in yet another tiny town, the name of which I cannot remember at the moment…Murchison, I believe. Not very important, since we are simply driving through. Our next intended stop is at the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers several hours south. However, who knows if we find something to sidetrack us on the way. There’s a lot of good white-water kayaking in the area and I’m starting to get the itch. Most likely, that will have to wait until Queenstown, but we’ll see.
10.21.03 LK Our drive to the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers was just beautiful. Actually in many places, the jagged coast looked very much like Highway 1 in California. One of the big differences is the foliage you see along the way – the forests are quite dense and lush. There are many big ferns and trees that look like they are in the palm tree family. It’s very Jurassic Park. Also, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Penguin Crossing sign on Highway 1….
We were kind of awestruck by the view as we pulled in to Franz Joseph – the first of the two glacier towns. As we crossed a narrow bridge over the river we could see big snow-capped peaks looming in the distance. The somewhat cloudy weather only added to our suspense. We pulled through the cute little town of Franz Joseph to snap a few photos and then pushed on to Fox. We had heard that Fox was smaller than Franz Joseph (hard to believe) and more like an Alpine village so we had chosen Fox as the spot to arrange our glacier hikes.
10.23.03 LK We got bloody rained out of our heli-hike yesterday but used the day well doing laundry, writing postcards, and working on the web site. We decided to sign-up for a day of ice-climbing instruction for today and push off our heli-hike until flying seemed more likely, hopefully tomorrow.
ICE CLIMBING WAS AWESOME. Even though it rained, poured actually, we had a great time. Early this a.m. we met in the Alpine Guides store in town (the store dominates the town – it seconds as a post office and money-exchange), met our guide and got geared up. We got fitted with crazy heavy-duty boots, crampons, gators, waterproof pants, packs, climbing rope, etc. Then, along with one other couple from South Africa, we set out to tackle the glacier.
It was a pretty amazing sight to hike along a river and green mountainside and come upon this mammoth ice wall that is the terminal wall of the glacier. It is so awesome that it doesn’t seem real. I think the jagged peaks of ice with their deep, blue crevasses look like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. It really seems like one of the makers of that movie must have gotten their inspiration from a glacier somewhere. After a relatively easy hike up the wet rocks we stopped to don our harnesses and crampons before heading on to Fox, literally. A few of the Alpine guides had been axing some ice steps for us, so the first bit of the hike on the glacier wasn’t too difficult. I think they wanted to give us a wee bit of time (everyone in NZ says “wee”) to get used to walking in our crampons and get some more instruction before giving us too steep of a climb.
Sure enough, our guide Karen showed us how to walk up and down steep inclines and basically how to tramp about the glacier. It was pretty fun. I had to keep stopping to make sure I took in the scenery. Michael and I were both just dumbfounded. On either side of us were green hillsides and up ahead of us stood the snow-capped peak of Mt. Tasman, NZ’s second highest peak.
We hiked a while, practicing our ice walking when Karen spotted a cool ice wall for us to make a bit of a camp and get to climbing. We took off our packs and grabbed some power bars while she climbed to the top of the wall to drop down some lines. Now things were starting to get good. Karen showed us how to prepare for the belay and the climb. I belayed Michael first as he climbed the wall. He did a splendid job as you might imagine, making it to the top of the wall and kissing the knot. I have to admit that I had a hard time holding on to the line to make sure that I could lower Michael down securely, but I hunkered down and all turned out o.k. I had a pretty good first climb too, kissed the knot and everything! After we switched climbs with the South African couple, Karen climbed back up to give us some more difficult routes.
The next climb was much steeper, near vertical with a slight overhang at the top. Michael climbed first and this time really had to work hard to plant his feet correctly and to get his axes in deep enough to support his body. The weather was definitely not cooperating with us. We were drenched at this point and it was hard to see. In addition, Karen told us that it usually warms up by this point in the day softening the ice some making it much easier to securely plant your axe. We were having no such luck. The ice was very hard and chipping easily making it difficult to plant our crampons and our axes well. Michael made it to the top of the steep wall, reaching his axe over the top of the overhang. Once on the wall, I quickly realized why Michael was finding it more difficult than our first couple of climbs. The wall was so steep it felt nearly impossible to take a step without falling off the wall. Which I did a couple of times. It was a bit scary, but Michael had me securely in tow and I ultimately made my way to the top. It felt like one of those small accomplishments you’ll remember forever.
So, I had another fantastic day with my new husband. Hanging out in the campervan now. We don’t have much choice since it’s still pouring out but we are staying in town again tonight in hopes of heli-hiking tomorrow!
10/24/03 MK We finally pulled the plug on heli-hiking. We waited 3 days for the weather to cooperate, but it simply is not to be. Thankfully, we did get up on the glacier to ice-climb. As Lisa said, it was raining, which made it a little miserable, but it was still very beautiful and we both enjoyed the climbing. It’s much harder than I thought it would be.
After a few-hour drive, we are now in the town of Wanaka. We’ve only been here for a few hours and it’s already one of my favorite towns. Lisa and I have talked a lot about finding the perfect town on the central California town to move to, well, except for being in New Zealand, Wanaka is that town. As soon as you arrive, the first thing you see is a large lake on the far side of town and huge snow-capped peaks on the opposite side of the lake. Stunning. The town is very clean and modern and clearly in a growth phase. Unfortunately, the primary activity we wanted to do in Wanaka, canyoning, does not begin until November. That said, we are only staying here the night and moving on to Queenstown tomorrow. Queenstown is considered the world capital for adventure activity. Supposedly bungee jumping was invented there. I think I’m going to like it.
10/28/03 MK Well, to catch you up on the last few days. In brief, we’ve been jet boating, skydiving, white-water rafting, and I drove a pro-rally car on a closed circuit; a dream come true for me. To expand…we arrived in Queenstown on the late afternoon of the 25th. Like all of the driving we’ve done in NZ, this one was another stunner. I have repeatedly written about beautiful towns on a lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks. Well, Queenstown is another except you can take it up a notch. The lake is huge and filled with slate-blue water. The mountains are enormous jagged peaks, and yes they are capped with snow. The town is moderate in size, for NZ, and I would describe as having a ski town feel. Perhaps, similar to an Aspen or Vail. Clearly designed for tourists with many restaurants, bars, clothing stores and the typical tourist attractions. It also seems like every other storefront is a place to sign up to throw yourself off of something. Bungee jumping, skydiving, bridge swings, parasailing…you name it and they’ll throw you off it. You’ll be happy to know we’ll be passing on most of these activities, however, Lisa was clearly intent on skydiving. I’ve already hucked myself from a plane twice, so I wasn’t very interested in doing it again, but there was no stopping her…so off we went. Well, while I enjoyed it, Lisa nearly lost her mind. After landing, she was so full of adrenaline she was jumping and prancing all over the place with a huge grin on her face. My wife can be very silly. She’s already looking forward to another skydive. Other than the above activities, we’ve been enjoying wandering around town and have gone to hear a few good local jazz bands. In 2 days we are leaving for Te Anau, which is the gateway to the Fiordland’s. Our first activity there is a 4-day hike on the Milford Track, which is considered the world’s most beautiful walk. While that sounds like marketing to me, I have heard from many people that it is truly magnificent. I’m very much looking forward to it. We are then planning an overnight cruise in Milford Sound aboard the Wanderer. The captain of the boat we slept on in Abel Tasman used to work on the Wanderer and recommended our spending a night on it. After that, we are hoping to do a two-day kayak on Doubtful Sound.
10.31.03 Happy Halloween!
MILFORD TRACK 11/1/03 MK Today we set out on the Milford Track. The first of 4 days walking a route that was first discovered/created by Quinton McKinnon in 1888. The Trail begins at the head of Lake Te Anau and travels 33.5 miles through the mountains to Milford Sound. The trail is often called the most beautiful walk in the world. The NZ Department of Conservation limits the number of trampers allowed on the trail at any one time making reservations necessary. Being extremely popular, anyone looking to walk the track should plan on making reservations 6-months in advance.
The first day is a light one. It begins with a 1-hour boat ride across Lake Te Anau, and as you might expect, it is very beautiful. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in New Zealand and is surrounded by mountains that come right down to its shores. While traveling across the lake it is easy to imagine being a great explorer setting out on a grand adventure. From the time you leave the dock, you leave all signs of human life. No shore side homes, no docks, and no other boats. You travel across the lake and up a channel to the foot of the mountains. It was very exciting. Once landing at the head of the lake, we began a short hike to our first camp. This was when reality first set in. We are not Ernest Shackelton setting out for the South Pole. One quick glance around and it is easy to see that we are in fact tourists traveling with 47 other tourists of varying ages and sizes. So much for my fantasies.
The hike to camp was a very short 20 minutes. As I said, day one was very light. Among the 47 are Kiwis, Aussies, Brits, Germans, Scots, a group from Korea and 3 other American couples all hailing from northern California.
It is now 10pm and they just turned off the camps generator so I am writing by Petzl light. A Petzl is a headlamp and I received mine as a gift at my first Fried family Christmas. Thank you Pat & Michael. I’m restless and looking forward to tomorrow.
11.01.03 LK We gathered this morning in Te Anau at the Holiday Inn (now called something else), also the site of the Ultimate Hikes office. We got to meet our fellow travelers over a nice lunch. I’m not sure what we were expecting but as it turns out, we were among the youngest in the group – as we would find out on the Track, it was kind of fun to be called the “young ‘uns” again! Lunch was typical New Zealand style – lots of sandwiches of a different sort than we are used to. As usual there was a choice of pre-made sandwich w/three pieces of bread including tuna and egg salad, pastrami and tomato, asparagus and tomato, and chicken pesto and tomato, a bowl of soup, and a choice of muffin. Over lunch we met a lovely couple from Australia, David and Susie. After lunch we gathered outside for our group photo and met our guides. All four of the guides were wearing shorts (of the Magnum PI variety, i.e. very short) which did a good job making us feel like wimps for being bundled up for the boat-ride to come. Thanks for that. They grow ‘em real hardy here in New Zealand.
As Michael said, after a gorgeous boat ride and a short walk we arrived at the site of our first lodge. Glade House was set in the middle of a beautiful little natural clearing beside the river. After dropping our packs in our rooms we were led on a fun nature walk before dinner. Hamish, the lead guide on the Track was as usual, incredibly informative. He also happened to have a great sense of humor that was to be much appreciated over the course of the Track. The nature walk gave us a small taste of the walk to come – the scenery was Jurassic Park meets Lord of the Rings – it was fantastic. We were getting excited for the tramping to begin.
After dinner and meeting the two other “young couples” with whom we would end up spending almost all of our time, Hamish forced us to introduce ourselves by country. It was a pretty silly evening – each country sang a patriotic or totally ridiculous song and each individual described why they chose to walk the Track. My favorite reason came from two sweet middle-aged Kiwi women who were also sister-in-laws. They described how they had been reminiscing about a promise they made 20 years earlier to walk the Milford Track. Overhearing them, their niece laughed out loud at the possibility of the two of them even considering the Track, no less finishing it. That was enough of a challenge for them and here they were!
11/2 – 11/5/03 MK For many months Lisa and I had heard from a number of people that the Milford track was the most beautiful walk in the world. People would gush over their experience walking it. Shortly prior to our departure I commented to Lisa that our expectations have been set so high, is it possible for the track to live up to it? Are we in for a let down? Well, now that we have completed the 4 days of tramping covering some 33.5 miles, I can enthusiastically answer no. DEFINITELY NOT. The Milford Track is undoubtedly the most beautiful walk we have ever been on. In fact, it is likely the most beautiful landscape we have ever seen.
Day 2 of the trip is about 10 miles through a glacial valley. The entire track is within temperate rainforest, and is what I imagine the Amazon to be like. Very lush and very green. A great diversity of plant life with many ferns and most everything covered in moss. Immediately alongside the valley is the foot of some of the most rugged mountains I’ve ever seen. Very steep with lots of exposed rock and rising to snow capped peaks. Because we are entering summer, the increase in temperature is melting the snow, causing runoff, and creating enormous waterfalls that appear to slice their way down the mountains terminating practically at our feet.
As well as great diversity in terrain, the weather is constantly changing. In one day you can experience several very different climates. Something we would learn on day 3.
Day 3. The generator turned on at 6:15am, as did the lights in our cabin making a very effective and abrupt alarm clock. Sore from our first day of hiking, and freezing in our unheated rooms, we were very slow to get out of our only slightly less cold bed. Lisa slept fully clothed. I found the hot water bottles we put in our beds to be doing an excellent job, so I elected to sleep as I usually do, in my birthday suit. However, by morning the bottles were cold and I was frozen. Lesson learned.
Despite the cold, the sun was shining and we were excited to begin the day. Although a few miles shorter, day 3 is considered the most difficult. The first few miles continued through the valley, however, it was now open land with exposed views in all directions. After a short bathroom break we began climbing McKinnon Pass, which consists of 11 zig zags up 2800 vertical feet to our lunch spot near the summit. We had been warned that the weather could change and to be prepared. We were also informed that some 4 months ago a landslide wiped out a portion of the trail and the right turn from the number 2 zig to the number 3 zag was now a detour. We arrived to a bit of a traffic jam as hikers were taking turns ascending a steep, muddy face while clinging to a rope. For most of us it wasn’t very difficult rather adding to the fun. For a few it was quite challenging. The rope was about 100 yards long, however, at the top it was as if we’d entered a new climate as we begun to notice the falling snowflakes. As we gained altitude, the snow gained strength, and by our summit we were walking in a blizzard with near whiteout conditions. While the snow did add a special beauty to the landscape, it is a shame that we could not enjoy the views from McKinnon pass, which we were told is a real highlight. After a short break for chicken soup, Milo (NZ hot chocolate) and sandwiches, we began the 3000-foot descent. The first challenge was in finding the trail as the snow and wind had increased during our rest. That said, the descent was the highlight of the trip for us. The trail was in a mostly dry/frozen creek bed that was steep, winding, very narrow, and practically covered with vegetation that was both incredibly green and covered in white snow. The contrast was spectacular. The creek eventually flowed into a raging river full of white water and cascading waterfalls. Lisa and I stood in the snow absolutely staggered by the scenery. Of course, as we descended, the temperature climbed, and the snow turned to rain. The last few miles became a wet schlogg to camp. Sunshine, blizzard and rain, a very complete day.
Day 4. Our final day of tramping was the longest covering 13 miles. Thankfully, it was also sunshine from beginning to end. Once again, it was breathtaking with perhaps the most beautiful waterfalls yet. We were told the reason for all the waterfalls, other than the heaps of rain, is that the mountains while being lush with vegetation have very little topsoil, and therefore only absorbs a fraction of the rainfall. The remainder spills over the sides of the peaks creating the waterfalls.
Lisa and I are now sitting on a couch in the lodge at Mitre Peak, our final destination. Everyone has left on the bus returning to Queenstown. We chose to stay and spend a night on a boat in Milford Sound. Mitre Peak is the largest mountain in Milford and the sound is considered the 8th natural wonder of the world. Like Tahoe, Milford Sound was created by glaciers. I’m sorry to say Tahoe pales in comparison. I doubt there is a more beautiful place on earth than Milford Sound.
The sound is surrounded by vertical cliff walls that literally drop into its waters. The cliffs are marked with many waterfalls and changes from granite to lush vegetation and back. Unfortunately, it is pouring rain as Milford is one of the wettest spots on earth.
A quick side note: I’ve been reading this book called “Absolutely Outrageous Adventure”. It’s the true story of 2 Kiwi’s who set a world record by traveling to 191 countries in 150 days. Given the obvious similarities to our journey, I thought it would be interesting. I’m about ½ way through and I have to say it ranks amongst the worst books I’ve ever read. These knuckleheads traveled to every nation recognized by the U.N. and experienced almost nothing beyond airplanes, taxis and hotel rooms. Somehow they arranged sponsorship from major companies and Penguin published their story. For some reason I’m actually bothered by what these kooks did. It’s an insult to travel and to the countries they barely entered and the cultures they ignored. Thus ends my ranting.
We’ve now been in New Zealand for 1 month and I find the mix of travelers interesting. We’ve met Australians, Japanese, Koreans, English, Germans, Americans, a few Canadians and one Brazilian. Surprisingly, most of Europe has gone unrepresented. Particularly, no French, no Italians, no Spanish. For some reason this surprises me. I’m curious to see the mix of travelers throughout our journey.
We’re leaving for Australia in 8 days. As wonderful as New Zealand has been, we are looking forward to moving on. While we are very excited about Australia, we have both commented on being anxious to begin 3rd world travel and more exotic locals.
11.02.03 LK Day 2 of the Milford Track was really our first day of walking. Stepping on the Track was like being transported into a storybook. The track was an unusually cleared, two-by-two trail for most of the day of walking. This exact pathway has been used for over 100 years without much change. As Hamish told us, if you look just 2 feet off the trail, you’ll see it as it was when Quinton McKinnon first walked this way. Two feet off the trail was a thick lush wilderness, the likes of which I have never seen before. Today was a good trial day in that we got a chance to experience some rain and to figure out the best and most accessible placement of our gear – rain pants, rain jacket, fleece hat, etc. By the end of the ten miles, we had a pretty good system worked out.
As Michael said, we walked through a number of gorgeous glacial valleys. All were narrow valleys that seemed wedged between steep snow-capped mountain ranges as an afterthought. But each valley had a distinctly different terrain. Some were split in two by a river and full of fluorescent green moss covering straggly trees. Some were full of low bushes and plants of golden hues, browns, greens and auburns. Thanks to the consistent rainfall, all the valleys were surrounded by steep waterfalls as far as the eye could see. Winter was still hanging on on the Milford Track and the results of recent avalanches and huge mounds of fallen snow were visible all around us.
We had our first fulfilling Kea encounter at our lunch hut. Keas are the only alpine parrot in the world. They are very cheeky (as the NZ’ers love to say), meaning they are clever and creative. They are also beautiful and strong looking. We are told they know how to unzip packs in a snap and remove lunches before unsuspecting trampers are the wiser! Our ice-climbing guide had told us that she’d seen a Kea completely destroy a convertible car top to get to some food inside. So, today two Keas were hanging around our lunch hut in the hopes of getting some lunch for themselves. We were thinking Hamish had these two guys on payroll, because they did not cease to entertain! During our quick trip to the outhouse, our friends Jack and Valerie had to step in and save our packs from the Keas! They were apparently in the midst of unzipping the top of the pack when Jack shooed them away.
The second half of the day, we walked with the other “youngins” – the Brits, Anouska and Josh and the Aussies, Sonia and Michael. The rain was unrelenting but we had a splendid walk. By the end of the day, we were anxious to get out of our wet clothes and get to the second night’s lodge. We were not disappointed – it was pretty awesome. Nestled in the middle of the bush, the windows in the lodge were huge and provided us with just the view we wanted – watching the pouring rain from the inside for a while!
We had a nice evening. We were visited by two other Keas who walked right into the lodge, sat through our first earthquake of the trip, learned a fun new card game from Josh (Michael and I kicked butt – go U.S.A!), and we waited for our clothes to dry. There are apparently hundreds of earthquakes each day in Milford Sound and along the track, but only a few can be felt.
P.S. While the lodges are really beautiful and a sight for sore eyes at the end of the day, I want to mention one small drawback -- there is no heat. There are generators that power the lights and the kitchen, but those too are turned off at 10 p.m. As a result, the rooms were FREEZING. I regularly slept in my jeans (only pair of pants not wet), two shirts, my fleece and my hat. We learned to fill the hot water bottles before dinner so the bed would have as long as possible to warm up.
11.03.03 LK Wow. What a spectacular day. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any more magnificent, it did. We passed through what seemed like three seasons today and walked through about four or five incredibly different landscapes.
Michael and I enjoyed the sunny and clear morning walking alone. We were awed by the views. The valley seemed to stretch out behind us forever. The mountains surrounded us even more now and at times, we had to look straight up the steep slopes to see the jagged snow-capped peaks. We passed over the debris and devastation left behind from a number of avalanches and were reminded that Mother Nature was surely in control. As we began to ascend the mountain on our way towards McKinnon pass (we had begun the famous serious of zigs and zags leading up to the mountain pass), we caught up with a number of other trampers. We had reached a bit of a bottleneck at the site of an earlier avalanche. The avalanche had completely cut off a large part of our trail. This stretch of the Track had been walked for over a hundred years, but Mother Nature had decided that we needed to figure out another way. The guides had walked the Track for the first time this season a few days earlier and had done a great job of fashioning a new trail complete with rope leading up the muddy slope-side. I thought it was a good bit of fun.
Almost as soon as Michael and I reached the top of the new zig or zag, we began to notice the beginning of Season 2 – snowflakes. We pulled on our raincoat and pants and other warm gear. We quickly moved passed a number of trampers and were again enjoying the silence in the woods. The snow fell harder as we ascended. It was stunning. I am quite sure that the pictures will not do justice to the magical scene the snow created. At one point, we heard a huge thundering – Hamish had forewarned us that if and when we thought we heard thunder - it was probably an avalanche. Sure enough, we looked across the valley to the mountainside in front of us. From where we stood, the crashing snow looked like a huge magnificent waterfall. It was awesome.
By the time we reached the famous McKinnon pass and the much-needed lunch shelter, we were in a blizzard and were experiencing a complete white-out. The snow had indeed added a new and wonderful dimension of beauty, but we had definitely missed the view of the surrounding mountains and valleys from the Pass. Oh well. We were having one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. After we warmed up a bit, we set out again. The snow was really coming down and there were times where we could not be sure we were on the correct path. I think Michael and I both enjoyed this part of the day the most. The mountainside had been transformed in to a magical white tropical-looking paradise. The snowy quiet was interrupted only a few times by the thunder from distant avalanches and the rush of oncoming and numerous waterfalls.
As we descended, we entered Season 3 – torrential rain. Our video camera had stopped working and our regular camera was drenched. Though a bit slippery, the descent was not overly technical, but it did seem somewhat relentless at this point. We were fatigued and soaked and I think we’d both admit that by the last mile of the day, we were looking forward to the lodge.
11.04.03 LK No description of the Milford Track would be complete without some mention of the SANDFLIES. In brief, there are hundreds and hundreds of INCREDIBLY annoying knat-like mosquitos. As long as you keep moving you are safe from the sandfly, but the second you even stop to scratch your nose, they swarm around you. They are sneaky and will even bite you under the tops of your socks. At first you don’t notice the bites. Red sores alert you to your bite and the intense itching comes shortly thereafter. Then, after you think you cannot bear the itching for another moment, the red sores turn into ugly little ulcerated pustules. There they remain for days always reminding you of their presence with their blinding itch! Needless to say, they were not my favorite part of the Track or New Zealand.
11.09.03 LK We are in Queenstown again, looking out our hotel window at blue sky, jagged snow-capped peaks, brown mountains, and tall evergreens surrounding a turquoise lake. It is getting harder and harder to figure out which is the “best room with a view”. We are going to hang here for a few days before we leave for Australia. We’ll probably manage to get at least one more adventureland activity in before we go…
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