Ev and Nicoles Excellent Adventure

Cold, Windy, Rainy Goodbyes

2009-05-24T01:20:56Z

Hello again,
So its two more days before we head home and New Zealand has been helping us out with some terrible weather, making it easy enough to want to come back to beautiful, warm summertime in the States. At the moment we're staying out at New Brighton Beach, a bit outside of Christchurch and enjoying some lazy inside days. While the rain, wind, and hail from time to time act enough of a deterrent to keep us from going out too much we have been down to the beach a few times, mostly to hang out on the pier and watch surfers.

It has been an amazing three months here, and I can't believe its practically over. I suppose this will be the last real post on this thread, I'm guessing nobody is going to want to hear about the 10+ hour flight back (here's a taste...we read a little, then we sleep a little, maybe some Flight of the Conchords around meal time, bit more napping, then I get up and pace around the back going stir-crazy while ev sleeps some more :o) Thanks a bunch to anyone who has actually been reading this thing :o) Hope it inspired at least a few people to want to come out here, I know I hope to come back (We have an actual list of hikes still left to do). Tuesday May 26th is the day, 6pm is the time. Hopefully see you all soon.
much love,
nicole and everett

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Abel Tasman!

2009-05-21T00:30:11Z

Hello!
So we managed to squeeze in this last hike before saying goodbye to the campervan and heading into christchurch once again. We spent four glorious days on in the Abel Tasman National Park on the Coastal Trail, and a little bit of the Inland Track to round it out. The weather was AMAZING, sunny and warm the whole time, and it was practically deserted out there (we actually got a whole hut that sleeps twenty to ourselves).

The first day we got yet another water taxi out to near the far end of the trail, with a nice little tour of fur seal spots and dolphin sightings on the way. The next few days were spent basically hiking from one beautiful golden cove to the next.

There were a few tidal crossings to keep things interesting, our first few days low tide was around 6 am/pm so we had some early mornings to get across on time... and then some patient waiting at the end of the day to cross yet another, but it was time well spent. I've never enjoyed sunrise as much as I did two hours into a hike crossing a tidal river :o)

All and all it was the perfect way to wrap up the out-doors adventure portion of this trip.

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Heading North...

2009-05-10T09:10:22Z

Heya,
We realized that the trip will soon be over and decided to make our way out of the mountains and over to the Tasman Sea, we spent some soggy days on the West Coast doing day trips through Arrowtown, Wanaka, Hawea Conservation park, Glacier Country (Franz-Josef Glacier AWESOME ) and Paparoa National Park. Updated the Flickr site so there are a few new ones on there. Nothing too eventful to report :o) We just finally made our way into Nelson, a funky and artistic town about the size of Corvallis but is actually pretty big for a town around here, and will be exploring the area by bike tomorrow. We have the marvelous campervan

for another 10 days and then its 5 more in Christchurch settling everything up before we head out. But before all of our sad goodbyes to New Zealand we will be doing one more track big track here... The Abel Tasman, just north of Nelson. Its all coastal so it can also be kayaked (very cool) and it should be about three days starting with yet another water taxi (hooray). Can't wait for the track, we'll be posting pictures soon...

Oh yeah, and Ev hears back from his job interview with the WA conservation people on the 14th so fingers crossed :o)
see ya,
nicole and ev

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The Great Walks

2009-05-02T22:26:54Z

Hello!
It’s been an exciting week or so since we last updated this thing. We are officially in month three of the New Zealand adventure and we kicked the month off right with two of the Great Walks, the Routeburn and the Milford tracks. The journey began Saturday night as we bade a hearty farewell to civilization and enjoyed the best of Queenstown with Soulsystem (best reggae/Dub so far) at the Dux de Lux (best beer by far). The following morning was a beautiful, if a bit hung-over, first day on the Routeburn. We managed three sunny and rain-free days hiking, an occurrence unheard of in these parts.

Despite the lack of rain there were some beautiful waterfalls. We stopped to have lunch at the Earland Falls

From the top of the pass you could see all the way out to the Tasman Sea

All of the great walks are immaculately maintained, some sections looked better than most Forest Service roads, there were even toilets set in scenic locations every few miles

Leave it to the Kiwis to make sure that there are clean public loos just about everywhere. On the last day of the Routeburn we made it up to Key Summit for sunrise

which was probably my favorite part of the tramp despite the cold.

That afternoon we made it to The Divide (end of the tramp) by 10 am and had hitched a ride into Te Anua by 1 (sorry moms, but it really is safe here.)
We spent a day or two in town doing laundry and internet. Ev found out he has a Washington State Dept. of Ecology job interview all lined up so good news there! We got our hut tickets and bus to the boat all lined up and that Friday we headed out on the Milford.

Is was a beautiful first day, clear skies, warm sun, and a nice easy walk to the first hut. The second day was much the same, although we were told to expect rain in the afternoon it managed to hold out until later in the evening when everyone had made it to the second hut. About 6pm that evening the rain began, and then kept going… 630ml and 48 hours later it was still going strong and we were still stuck at the second hut as the ENTIRE track was closed.

Even if we had felt like braving the rain, the 120 km/hr wind up on the pass was a bit of a deterrent. The formerly barren rock face facing the hut quickly became covered in roaring waterfalls

After an extra day and a half at hut #2 (and about a million games of cards) the decision was made to airlift everyone on the track one hut further along with hopes that the next day would be nice enough to walk out. So we got NZ chopper ride number two up and over the pass (with stunning views of the McKinnon memorial, Sutherland falls, and the waterfalls/rivers that used to be the Milford Track) and got dropped right in front of hut #3
Very Cool.
It stormed that night, thunder and all, and we were all pretty sure we’d be catching another chopper out the following morning. However when we woke up the storm had passed, the wind had quieted down and we were told the track was open. Besides a bit of rain in the morning it turned out to be an amazing day, all of the waterfalls were still gushing water, and the boat ride through the Milford sound at the end of the track was the perfect end.

For the moment we are back in Kinloch, now with a campervan, taking care of laundry and getting ready for the next adventure. More soon…
Nicole and Ev

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New Pictures

2009-05-01T06:48:13Z

Check out the Flickr page ...http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/sets/

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Celly!

2009-04-17T21:10:42Z

Alright, so we finally got my phone unlocked and got a NZ SIM card... If you'd like to call us the number is +64 (Thats the exit code and the New Zealand country code) then 0212328083. We haven't gotten the chance to try it out yet so if you try it out and it doesn't work please let us know so we can change this post :o) We recommend calling on Skype if you'd like to try it out :o) HOORAY CELLPHONE
peace and love,
nicole and ev

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What we've been up to...

2009-04-04T22:59:38Z

Heya Everyone,
We know this page has been a bit lacking so here’s this last month in a nutshell :o)
After an awesome St. Patricks in Dunnedin we slept in, put on some dark shades, and managed to drive southwest to the Catlins. We found pretty much the most amazing campsite ever out on this beach in one of the countless gorgeous coves that make up the area.
and spent four nights hanging out with the sea lions who were also calling our little paradise home. We did the whole scenic drive of the area out to the many waterfalls and this one really cool chasm

and did a little hiking/fishing on the side. Really cool area, really relaxing time…
After the Catlins we went to Gore “Trout fishing capital of the world”, which is a dirty dirty lie, there were a few trout… but they were fat lazy bastards who wouldn’t bite at the bait at all. Total jerks, so Nicole left Gore, her dreams of a delicious trout dinner left wanting. Also she blew out here bike tire 15 Km out of town. So for all intents and purposes Gore was a complete bust.

From Gore it was on to Stewart Island, a pretty awesome place. Most of the island is a national park, half of that swamp, but the other half is gorgeous with all sorts of birds and marine life (albeit very very muddy) We tramped about 4 days on the Northwest Circuit track… its super remote and SUPER MUDDY but it was the most badass either of us have felt in awhile. To begin with we got dropped off by water taxi on a rock outcrop a bit from the first hut, that’s right the boat pulled up to the rocks, tossed us out, tossed out our bags and just left. No ramp, no dock, just a rock.
Then immediately we had to ford a stream and search out the trailhead, and that was before we even started the track.
There was ankle to thigh-deep mud throughout the “trail” and it regularly climbing into and straight up out of some crazy ravines. And when we say up, we mean straight up and out, like rock-climbing only made of mud and tree roots. Nicole was DONE after the first day but we met some funny guys out hunting at the first hut who fed us venison chops and onions, so she dealt with it and the next few days proved to be a bit better (not less muddy, just a better pace) We ended up getting a helicopter out when a phone message to the i-site asking to reschedule our other water taxi got garbled, but it was free so pretty awesome. All and all Stewart Island was a beautiful place, we highly recommend it :o)

On from there we headed to Te Anua briefly before exploring a bit of Lake Monowai and Manapouri. At Lake Manapouri we took a guided kayak out to the Doubtful Sound (BEAUTIFUL)

It was an amazing day, perfect weather and super calm water, not to mention an awesome guide and really fun group of people .
That night we got dropped off on an island in the lake and left with a kayak, we got the whole beach to ourselves and in the morning we took a nice paddle out to some islands before coming back into town.

So now we are camping out in Glenorchy, although at the moment we are enjoying nearby Queenstown. Its right on Lake Wakatipu (longest in NZ) and seems to be a lot like Vail (or so Everett says). There are a bunch of tramping tracks around so that seems to be the plan for the moment.

Hope all is well with everyone, drop us a line and say hello!
Lots of love,
Nicole and Everett

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More Photos...Hooray

2009-03-29T20:38:26Z

Heya!
So we finally compressed a bunch of photos and uploaded them to Flickr (saving both time and money in the process) They're a little small but better than nothing! :o) Enjoy... http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/

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Mt. Cook/ Aroaki

2009-10-02T22:57:44Z

So we spent a few windy, rainy, and a sunny day at the tallest Mt. in asturalasia. So in oregon we have Hood and Jefferson being the tallest(Jeff at 12 somethin), well Mt. Cook is at 11.5 thousand feet. Basically it is in between Jeff and Hood, but much much steeper and just packed with glaciers.

so the first day we camped and got hit with the worst wind ever, our tent was flat, yeah flat. it didnt blow away because we were in it! the tent was fine a little bent but not much. The next night it rained so hard that a river developed under our tent, yeah a four inch deep flowing pool of water, and the tent was still dry.
The camp was set at the base of Mt. Sefton, and this thing was covered in 3 hanging glacers, and i had never seen so much ice hanging above you.

So bad weather and all it was still nice to get some hikes in. We headed up the Hooker glacier valley to the base of Mt cook. we left early and only saw 3 ppl out there and had the Mt to ourselves when we got there.

We had to cross several rivers over these swinging bridges, they made the way back really slow with all the tourist heading out around noon. Very scary, about 100 ft up and a line of people crowding to cross, with a limit of 20 ppl on the bridge, bit disconserning.

Well all and all we had the Mt to our selves for a while and got some great pictures of ice burgs and the Mt.

Well cheers to Mt Cook

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Oamaru and the Coast

2009-03-16T20:49:12Z

Hi!
Apparently there is a distinct lack of high speed internet for hire in New Zealand, and we have been too frusterated with low page loading times to finish editing or posting new entries...however today, we have made some tea and settled down here in the kitchen of a Dunnedin Holiday park and are ready to battle through this :o)
We've been enoying the southern west coast of the South Island, we spent the last two weeks bumming around the Oamaru area. Oamaru is this funky little coastal town we've been sort of using as a base ... leaving to camp a few days out on the coast or in towards the rivers (so Ev could go fishing). It's been fairly nice out except for the freezing cold front that came through for a few days and actually dropped some very early snow up on the surrounding hills.
Our first trip out was to this surf festival just down the coast a few kilometers, we missed some of the competition but there was some great food (lamb sausages and cheese rolls :o) Healthy) and we managed to get our pictures in the paper (we'll send a fabulous NZ gift for anyone who can manage to hunt down last sundays, the 8th, edition of the Oamaru Daily Mailer, we didnt manage to get a copy)
The next trip out was to Trotters Gorge, a relatively unknown little DOC campspot near the Moeraki Boulders with a great trail up to some crazy rocks that lined the surrounding gorge...beautiful spot, we would have stayed longer but it began to rain and we almost got trapped in there by a flooding stream. A local guy came down at night and rounded us up as the stream was rising. Anyhow we came back to Oamaru to warm up and then headed out to this lake to camp a few days and fish, unfortunately the cold weather and some relentless wind kept up so it was back to Oamaru.
Our last trip before leaving was to stay with some WWOOF hosts south in Herbert. They were nice enough but not exactly what we were looking for so we only were there for four days before heading south to Dunnedin...
Thats it for now, we are in Dunnedin searching for some St. Patricks Day cheer :o)
love,
Nicole and Ev

no pictures yet again...NEED FASTER INTERNET

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PHOTOS!

2009-10-02T22:57:58Z

so we found a way to get the photos on to the Flickr page! theres just a few and we'll be adding more in a bit.... it really depends on how much change we can scrounge up, but hooray anyhow FLICKR! url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/

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We Have Arrived...

2009-10-02T22:57:28Z

So it's taken about a week to get around to updating this...sorry bout that. We arrived safely in Christchurch and pretty much conked out for a good twenty hours before getting around to enjoying the city. It was fun, good food, good beer, pretty much all you could ask for plus a beautiful central park/garden and live music pretty much everywhere (we managed to get here right in the middle of their flower festival :o)
We meant to post pictures today but our SD card reader on the laptop has decided to poop out on us, so hopefully we will be finding another way to move pictures around soon.
A few days ago we left the city and headed north to take in the Kaikoura penninsula and Hanmer Springs respectively, nice relaxing times all around .
Currently we are exploring the Mt. Cook area, we found this awesome campsite right at the base of Mt. Sefton, its amazing (and here's where those photos would have come in handy) Its just a set of huge glaciated peaks, like a third of the Mt. Cook park is covered in glaciers and you can get practically on top of them. We've been doing small tracks here and there and around every corner you're just amazed by another crazy sight... I think we'll be here a few more days taking it all in.
After that the plan is to head south/east to the coast .... talk to you then!
peace and love,
Ev and Nicole

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And WE OUT!

2009-02-26T21:12:15Z

We are now on the way to New Zealand and soon hope to be updating this thing regularly with many exciting tales :o)

Despite leaving this afternoon we won't be arriving in Christchurch untill 9am saturday (NZ time) So we lose something like a day and a half in this direction, crazy.

It's only taken a month of obsessing, and now we are ready to go.

We'll get back to you soon....from New Zealand!

Peace and Love,

Everett & Nicole

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The Countdown Begins...

2009-02-02T21:29:43Z

So its official, the tickets are booked and we're thinking about packing the bags! On February 26th at 7p.m. Everett and I will be departing from San Francisco International Airport and arriving some ridiculously long time later in Christchurch, NZ.

Anyone who's been over there, has some "can't miss this" tips or any helpful info to share, we would love to hear it...

nicole- sfollie85@yahoo.com
ev- everett.codd@gmail.com

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Happy New Year

2009-01-12T04:52:25Z

We hope everyone had a wonderful new years celebration ... Cheers to 2009!

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Hawaii Holiday

2008-11-21T17:30:53Z

Ten days in Hawaii!!

So we had Kevin, Jenny, and Ryan with us for this great little break in paradise. Ryan had his Bday on the 8th and I had mine on the 14th, we basically just had a blast.

Nicole's dad let us have his beach house for the time and it was amazing, right across the street from the beach and it had everything we could have needed. We started out snorkeling down at Charlie Young beach and saw a green sea turtle the very first day! This really set the pace, the next day we hit the road to Hana and had an amazing day of exploring the Maui rain forest and hitting the north end beaches. The next day we snorkeled a bit more down near Kamaole beaches, seeing two more turtles, an eagle ray, and I saw an octopus.

So for Ryan's Bday we went out in Lahaina for beers and food. Hit this really nice oyster bar, 2 dozen oysters, ahi sashimi , and octopus poki, and then desert. Wonderful! Then we hit up the pubs and got tanked!

For my Bday we hit a bar with a live reggae band, and hit the beach at like 3 am. it was sweet, just tops!

So we also hit the redwood forest and the summit of Haleakala. Both very nice little trips up the mountain. The road to the redwoods was awesome, just a crap dirt road with a big fat van, very exciting! Haleakala was cool, next time we are going to hike the caldera, but it was so cold up there. You travel though the clouds to get up to the summit, and up there its so clear.

So ya, great time in the island paradise of Hawaii!!!

Aloha
Ev

P.S. More photos can be found on our flikr page (thanks to kevie and jennie!)... http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/sets/72157609300323870/

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Living it up in the Bay Area

2008-11-18T05:21:14Z

So we've been living in the east bay for a few months now. I'm pretty sure that we've gotten most of the dorky tourist stuff out of the way by now (pictures follow)... we went to some giants games, rode the cable car, biked around golden gate park and the reservoir, saw the blue angels at fleet week, and have generally been eating way too much good food.

I am currently working at UCSF in the radiology department. I'm working with a group studying osteo-arthritis, there are three or four projects going on at the moment, for the most part I am just helping out wherever I am needed. It is lots of computer work and wet lab work but from time to time I get to do something out of the ordinary like sit in on a surgery and collect samples (read: pieces of cartilage). I thought it might gross me out, but really its pretty interesting to see how they cut the knee or hip up and then re-build it.

I was going to put a bit in here about Ev, but he's saying that he will write his own this week so lets see if that happens :o)

More than anything we're just getting ready for the next adventure, which is Maui in about a week. We have Jenny, Kevin, and Ryan all coming along so it should be a great time. More about that when we get back...

peace!
-nicole

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Pendleton Round-Up

2008-09-18T00:59:29Z

YEE-Haw!

This past weekend we took a brief sojourn from the beautiful bay area to mosey on back to Oregon and enjoy the Pendleton rodeo with Kevie and his family (and thanks to them yet AGAIN for letting us come along...as always the food was great and the conversation was even better).
Like last year we camped out at the local littleleague field

For how close it is to the round-up its surprising how few people stay there.

We showed up late thursday night and set up so we had all of Friday and Saturday to enjoy. We began friday morning right with biscuits and gravy at Crabbys (not recommended) before going to the parade, which was a lot of fun but kind of hot and smelly :o) heres some parade highlights...

yeah thats right, big freakin oxen right down the middle of main street... I know Im still a city girl when this freaks me out every year :o)

Benny made an appearance...pretty cool

I know nothing about horses but these were big and pretty so I took a picture

and its not a party untill bigfoot shows up. So this must be a totally pacific northwest thing but people were seriously excited about bigfoot, like this wagon came by and kids started yelling and waving and running to take pictures with him... weird but cool

Friday we generally just hung out, met up with family, enjoyed the let er buck room, Oh and most importantly we ate some fry-bread tacos YUM! I didnt take a picture, I scarfed it down too quickly, but trust me it was good. We dressed up this year, hats, plaid, and I had some kick-ass boots. Kev even rocked the sheriffs badge...

howdy sheriff

Saturday morning we rose with the sun, literally because we didnt have tents for everyone so we just slept out in the open

Saturday morning cowboy breakfast

It was a good day at the rodeo despite the seats right out in the sunbowl, we beat the heat by hitting up the let er buck room about midday :o)

The whole gang hanging out in the SunBowl... Micah, Erin, Kev, Me and Ev

All and all it was a great time, cant wait to go back ...thanks again to kev and fam :o)

More Round-up photos can be found on our Flikr page...enjoy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/sets/72157607316143200/

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Pacific Crest Trail

2008-09-05T17:20:41Z

So we got through graduation and moving out of Corvallis (phew!)... We started on the PCT June 24th in Seiad Valley, CA.
We had a bit of a rough start, the first day was straight uphill all day and there were lightning storms and fires in the few days to follow. Nicole dropped out early in Ashland, opting to drive ahead to the next stop and play support team for the next few weeks :o) Emmett and Olivia roughed it out untill Crescent Lake, Or. Yvonne kicked ass and made it to Bend, Or. And Everett and Ryan hauled themselves all the way through Oregon to just north-east of Mt. Adams in Washington. I'm putting a few of my pictures on here but a full collection can be found on our flikr site...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificcrest/

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