Final New Zealand Post -- Mt Cook

The REI Group at Sealey Tarns, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

Leaving Queenstown early on November 20th we ventured toward Aoraki/Mt Cook Village, stopping along the way for, of course, a hike, led this time by our fearless co-leader Nicole Mulcahy, toting our mascot Shrek.

Nicole with Shrek

You may remember a news story from 2004 about a merino sheep named Shrek in New Zealand that hid out for years in a cave and avoided shearing until it looked cartoonish with  60 pounds of fleece.  It is a popular stuffed animal toy.

The Rest of the Group -- except Nadia, who had fallen off her horse in Queenstown

Rain and clouds for the most part prevented good views of Mt Cook as we hiked various tracks in the park.  Mt Cook is the highest peak in New Zealand, at 3753 meters.

Statue of Sir Edmund Hillary at Mt Cook Village

This statue honors the New Zealand hero who, in 1953 along with the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first to summit Mt Everest.  Hillary spent much time climbing Mt Cook and environs in training for Everest.  Looking at photos from that time you see his leather boots, his canvas pack and woolen shirt and can't help but marvel at the accomplishment, ascending to 29,028 feet elevation.  Because it's there.

Mt Cook itself has a nasty reputation for killing intrepid climbers, as its base is so accessible -- you can drive right to the bottom and start climbing with shorts and tennis shoes if you so choose -- unlike Everest, where the approach to base camp is long and arduous.  Several times during our two days at Mt Cook we heard the thundering grumble of avalanches in the surrounding mountains.

Clear skies came and went while we were there

The hike up Hooker River to the Hooker Glacier was the second of three hikes on our last full day.  The lake there had icebergs floating in it.

Tasman Glacier was the third hike of the day.

Finally before we left, Mt Cook did show itself.  

Aoraki (Cloud Piercer) the native Maori people named it.

Lupine (or is it fireweed?) -- 22 November 2015

That day we traveled back to Christchurch airport and began what would be for most of us a looooong long day of trans-Pacific travel back to the USA.   Starting back on October 2nd, the entire seven week long sojourn of ours was an incredible experience for Shannon and myself -- seven weeks, six nations, and over 20,000 miles total distance covered.  We will treasure memories of those adventures the rest of our lives.  Thanks to all who contributed.

On to Milford Sound and Queenstown

On Board the Milford Mariner

Here we are again, having just been here three weeks ago.

Judged to be the world's number one top travel destination by TripAdvisor, acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination and a World Heritage Site, the Milford Sound was also called the Eighth Wonder of the World by Rudyard Kipling.  But it's not a sound actually; it is a fjord.  And it is spectacular.

 It was pretty much a spectacular drive to get there.  

Key Summit, off the Routebern Track

Around Lake Gunn.  Rain Forest for sure!

The Kea, world's only alpine parrot

Sign says do not feed the Kea.  They get enough to eat by tearing apart the windshield wipers and window gaskets of parked vehicles.  They love rubber, much like the buzzards in Florida's Everglades.

Brrrrr

We stop at a lookout point along the way, and our guide Nicole decides to jump in and take a dip.  Twice!  That is glacial ice water.

Our Overnight Accomodations

Some of the folks kayaked off the ship

Sister ship Milford Wanderer dipping its bow in Bridal Veil Falls

The commercial side of Milford Settlement, home to 120 residents

The Mariner cruised out the length of Milford Sound into the open ocean next morning, allowing the 60 overnight guests to see seals and a few penguins, then we returned, docked and disembarked and, while our tour companions kayaked, Shannon and I hiked up the Sutherland trail to this viewpoint.  Iconic Mitre Peak directly above Shannon.

Then it was back through the Homer tunnel toward Queenstown, the Aspen/Vail of New Zealand.  (Interesting sidelight on the Homer Tunnel: there is an annual nude foot race through the tunnel.  Shoes and headlamps only.  One of our guides reportedly has perhaps participated in that race -- the female one.)

Shannon and I enjoyed dinner in Queenstown overlooking the lake with the late sun on the mountain ridges.

Next day we biked fifty-some kilometers over to Arrowtown and back, site of New Zealand's first Gold Rush

Crossing the Overshot River

The TSS Earnshaw has been plying the waters of Lake Wakatipu for over 100 years

NZ West Coast

Imagine that you have entered an alternate reality, and your surroundings are like the California coast along Big Sur where mountains crowd right down to meet the sea ... only there are no mobs of people there.  Virtually deserted.  That is in essence my impression of the west coast of south island New Zealand -- gorgeous coastline, few people.  Wow!

Starting off from Christchurch with our group of fourteen plus two REI guides, Rossco and Nicole, we drove west over Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps toward the seaside village of Punakaiki.  We had several good short hikes there, saw a glow worm grotto, Paparoa National Park and the Pancake Rocks.

Pancake Rocks, stacked limestone layers.

The beach on the Tasman Sea is largely these discs of eroded limestone

Next day we were off toward Okarito, where we would spend two nights, passing Hokitika on the way.

low-budget advertising

Okarito had wet weather, not unexpected in an area that is known to have as much as 250 rainy days a year.  Not my kind of climate.  

 

After an hour or two of drenched kayaking we built a roaring fire and dried out.  Nicole put together some Pavlova for dessert:

Walking after dark around tiny Okarito Shannon and I for the first time managed to see with some degree of clarity the Southern Cross.  As an extra added bonus we heard kiwis calling in the bush.  Click the kiwi link on here:      http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/birdsong.html    

To me they sound like frogs croaking/whistling.  We never actually saw one.  Kiwis are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their long beaks.

And next day were off again, toward Wanaka, passing Bruce Bay and visiting Fox Glacier along the way.

Bruce Bay Beach

Ironic, eh?

That is Fox Glacier, right above my shoulder

The rapid rate of melting and recession is alarming.

After a night in Wanaka we had a fun hike to the top of Rocky Mountain. That's certainly a place name I'm comfortable with.  Lake Wanaka in the background.

Ross Daubney, our fearless leader

New New Zealand Adventures -- Christchurch

After a few days exploring Auckland NZ, Shannon and I flew down to Christchurch on the south island to meet our REI adventure tour.  We arrived the day before in order to be ready for an early start with our group next day; we used the few afternoon hours we had to explore the historic city center of Christchurch.

Christchurch Cathedral

We knew that Christchurch had been hit hard by earthquakes several years before but to see the devastation first-hand was shocking for us.  Entire blocks have been bulldozed flat.  Construction cranes number in the dozens.  Many standing walls are decorated with colorful artsy murals, sort of a jarring contrast.  Elaborate bracing frames hold up many of the remaining historic brick and mortar structures.  Many, many weedy vacant lots.  I was reminded of what London must have looked like after the WWII Blitz -- minus the art.

As part of the recovery effort the so-called Cardboard Cathedral was erected.

Built from shipping containers and cardboard tubes with a translucent polycarbonate roof the unique new church sparked controversy.  One critic called the design 'kitsch.'

As if to mock churchgoers, this sight greets you as you exit across the parking lots.  How you gonna explain this to a wide-eyed Sunday School kid?

--------- One funny thing happened that day to show that Shannon and I had not wandered all that far from home, for all that our seven week sojourn would cover over 20,000 miles: while we waited at the bus stop outside our airport hotel a young couple of backpackers had walked up, Americans, and asked if this was where one caught the #29 bus for Downtown.  Yes indeed, we said.

They were Robert and Kaylee from sunny Florida, excitedly starting out on a year-long round-the-world adventure.  They have a blog.  As we chatted and then rode the bus to downtown Christchurch, New Zealand, it came out that they had rented out their Florida house for the year to a person who hailed from ... you ready? -- from Durango, Colorado.

Auckland NZ

Running around the past three days.  Just a few shots for now.

The Auckland Sky Tower, rising 1000 feet above the city.  Pic shot from our hotel.

Our hotel (with the billboard) from atop the tower.

Supergirl Shannon fearlessly walking across the see-thru plexiglas.

Dinner for two at The Orbit revolving restaurant atop the Tower.  Dinner required about three revolutions, I believe, at once around per hour.

The Tower after dark.

First Batch -- New Zealand

From Hobart we sailed across the wild Tasman Sea to cruise Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park, New Zealand.

We sailed in several miles, turned about 180, and sailed back out again.  Then we navigated through Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound and proceeded on around the southern extremity of South Island NZ toward Dunedin.  At that point we were at about 47 degrees south latitude, or over halfway from the Equator to the South Pole.

Otago Train Station in Dunedin, said to be the second-most photographed structure in the Southern Hemisphere (after #1 Sydney Opera House of course).

Our excursion in Dunedin was ’Scottish Dunedin,’ the name Dunedin being Scot Gaelic for Edinburgh.  Our guide was originally from the Orkney Islands of Scotland, very entertaining in his kilt and full regalia spouting Bobby Burns poetry; he recruited three of us passengers for a Haggis Ceremony, and gave me a ginger wig.  Damned haggis smelled horrible.  Thank goodness there was whiskey, after.  Look closely and you might see that the clan tartan he was wearing is a Johnston.

Akaroa, New Zealand, unlike Scottish Dunedin, was settled by the French.  Captain Frank Worsley — who one hundred years ago commanded the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s doomed Antarctic ship that was crushed in the ice — was born in Akaroa.  There is a monument along the shoreline walk that leads to this lighthouse; it commemorates the Captain and his phenomenal skill at dead reckoning navigation in the rescue, whereby not a single life was lost.

From Picton we toured a couple wineries.  The New Zealand sauvignon blancs are particularly good.

On the North Island of NZ  Wellington has a great botanical garden, lots of Japanese red maples.  Can you spot the redhead among them?

From Tauranga we drove a couple hours to the geothermal-volcanic areas.  This was the Champagne Pool at Waiotapo.  Yes, tiny bubbles.  Of sulfur gas.

Amazing volcanic colors!

And this is the unretouched color of the feature called the Devil’s Bath.  Fascinating area.

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We are enjoying Auckland at the moment (this year for the first time ever I get to enjoy my favorite season —Spring — twice!); we watched the HAL Noordam sail away hooting its foghorn while we ate our dinner last night.  And we are preparing to watch the Broncos game here on a Monday morning.  Ah technology!