Backpacking

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.

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

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

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

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