A Walk in the Park

So we had a slow morning... I got up but since we did not have specific plans for the day I saw no reason to wake Margaret early. I watched some news, read some and went outside to check the weather. I continued to read and news watch until about 10:30 when Margaret arose.

The day started by perusing about the city. We started out by making our way to the city center, Cathedral Square. There, had you not guessed... there is a cathedral. We went in and explored, and it was quite nice. More the stereotypical cathedral as opposed to the cathedral we visit in Nelson which was very modern.

When we exit the cathedral, the town square was gathering around a street preformer. It turns out we are attending Christchurch during their Buskers Festival. For those who don't know... that is a festival for street performers. Anyway, this first act (for us) is a street painter. At first we thought he was a magician... but twice (including his finally), he started throwing paint on a black page. At first it seemed entirely random, but within 3 minutes it turned into a portrait of Mick Jagger. It was crazy.

This inspired us to see more acts of the festival so we went to Victoria square where there were two different stages and we tended to alternate between the two. First (second I suppose), we saw Campground Chaos. This was an aerial stage acrobatics act. We then saw a bicyclist who was at one point riding the bike by holding the handlebars and walking on the front wheel. We then saw another actor though i'm feeling weaker in describing his act in a nutshell, but it was mostly balancing and juggling. Then we saw a duet circus pair who were very funny.

All in all it was a blast. By this point we headed out for some water as we'd been in the sun for quite a while. We went back briefly but the acts going on were not as engaging. The whole thing is 10 days, from the 20th to 30th. It was a lot of fun.

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A Real City

Well, a real city by New Zealand standards. We got up the usual time and packed our bags. We made ourselves some coffee to drink with our breakfast pastries. We then headed out to the bus, and boarded without trouble.

With that we were on our way out of Franz Josef, the tiny town on the western coast. When I say tiny... it makes Gambler Ohio look equally the city. It had two parallel streets and about a block of building inbetween. I must have walked the whole town multiple times in my stay.

We drove north to Greymouth along the same route we'd taken down to Franz Josef. Once there we switched to another bus to take us east to Christchurch. On the road we passed by plains and mountains, mountains covered in trees and mountains that were barren from rock slides. I can't decide if I think that the clouds are all low in New Zealand or the mountains are far taller than they seem, but the tops of mountains are routinely hidden by the soft rolling clouds that pass by.

As we began to roll into Christchurch it actually felt like a city. Small outskirts and real buildings on the interior. It was interesting to see that there were many buildings that seemed recently torn down or recently closed. I later recalled being informed that Christchurch recently underwent an earthquake or at least some strong aftershocks. Then the closed buildings seemed to make a lot more sense.

As we drove through, there were a sunrising number of indian restaurants, so we found one to eat at for dinner. All in all a fairly quiet day, but its good to have some quiet days to relax and recoup.

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Walkin' on Water

At least in a way... this morning I didn't get up until about 7:30, an hour later than usual but still early enough to meet the morning sun. Last night the views had been obscured due to low clouds that were rolling over the mountain tops. This morning I went outside to watch the sun rise over the Franz Josef glacier as the sun rose over the nearby mountains. Without a cloud in the sky the view from where I stood rose from the empty street to green hills to the grey stone and white snow where the glacier now resides.

Breakfast consisted of walking down the street where I bought 6 eggs and hash browns and fried them up (Margaret scrambled two of them...). After breakfast we went to pack my mom's snowleopard pack with lunch, water and warm gear for the day. I also provided Margaret with and underarmor layer, which along with a coat was more than enough. We went to the base for the Franz Josef tours, where they gave us all wool socks and boots. They made me switch from my boots to theirs ... a fact of which I am a bit bitter because my boots were better... but that aside, they approved of all of my gear and that which I was carrying for the both of us, so we needed no more then their boots socks and crampons.

We took the bus to the glacier's valley, where we took a ...30 minute hike to the terminal face of the glacier. The sheer size of scale that existed made everything sen out of proportion. We could see a rough edge at the top of the glacier, but they were described to us as being the size of multi-story apartment buildings.

The hike was great. We were broken up into groups and Margaret and I joined to faster group, and started up by climbing up any number of switchbacks up a slate/gravel mound that made up the terminal face. (Sorry about all of the repeater words right there...) Here is where we reached the ice and stopped to pu on crampons. It may have been helped by what I was wearing, or the pack... or any number of things... but I made quite an impression with our guide when I was halfway throw putting on my second crampon by the time he started explaining how. When he came through to check everyone's he asked me what I'd done and I had quite a nice conversation with him.

We then started our assent of the glacier, and the shades of blue that are provided by the glacial ice are AMAZING! We went down some man-made stairs, and walked along trails with crevasses on either side. We would stop from time to time to be told about the movements of the glacier and the effects of the local waterfalls and it was amazing to learn how drastically much this particular glacier moved.

We continued up for about another hour, where we stopped for lunch. While we sat and ate (pita and humus for us) our guide worked on checking/filling a few places in a crevasse we would get to hike through to start our climb down. After lunch our guide had me how through, as he walked alongside to help. At the end he left me with instructions as to where to help people go and what to do as he went and helped people through his crevasse. Everything went smoothly and the color inside was beautiful.

We continued downwards with more views and traveling through new gorges as we went. The important point was when we steppe at a cave where we were allowed in... but just far enough for fun pictures, a massive echo, the deepest blue i've ever seen, and the ability to see how far a crevasse could continue. Then we continued out without much more excitement.

The day also did not stop there. Back at our hostel it was 65 and sunny with no wind. As such I sat outside in the sun for a few hours, until 6 when I had a bowl of free soup. After that we went to the glacial hot pools, which we had free entry to as a result of the glacier walk. I spent plenty of time sitting in 104 degree water as I listened to the birds of the local forests. After this we made a spaghetti dinner with some wine and felt very civil with ourselves.

That brings me to now and the end of an awesome day. The only thing left is I am on my way outside to try and find the southern cross.

P.S. this glacier is where they filmed the "lighting of the beacons" for Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, you cannot see the full extent of the range unless you take a helicopter view... which is a bit out of my budget. Sadface. But still, basically was on part of the set!

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To Another Climate

Well, I'll keep this brief. Partly because today was not very exciting and partly because I'd like tomorrow to be a surprise...ish...

Anyway, the day started early; I might even say before bright. While I've been waking up around 6 lately anyway, today I had little time to dally. We did some finishing touches on packing our bags and checked out. We headed south by bus out of Nelson, and getting on the road went smoothly.

The bus driver talked sooooo much. I was losing my voice just listening to him and it actually became difficult to figure out what was important and what was repetition. He also kept the air conditioning way to cold. But complaints aside... we did stop in a bunch of places along the way to stretch the legs. The only one of note was the town of Punakaiki. Here I took a 20 minute loop of a walk, but rushed through it since we were leaving again in 20 mind. The loop took me to some great views of "pancake rocks". While I didn't get much explanation on how they formed, they appear to be hundreds of thin layers upon layers. Whatever their cause, also made for a very steep, rocky and jagged coastline. There were also "blowholes" along the walk. Sadly there were no good views of these, as they were holes in the ground canceled by nearby brush... but what made them cool was that I could hear wind whipping through them and on occasion they uttered loud blasts.

Back on the bus we continued onward, and in an hour or so were seeing more new and spectacular views... though I choose not to say of what. The evening was also pretty simple. We checked into our new lodgings without any trouble and took a quick walk around the small town. We bought some groceries and made ourselves some dinner. That was all... if all goes well better details and more excitement should follow tomorrow!

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I'm on a Boat!

You guessed it. At some point in this entry I will find myself on a boat. I must however lead with an apology... there were many things today that I wish I had taken pictures of, but there were extraneous conditions that I'll explain in due time. When pictures are shown please forgive some of the missing things from this day.

Apologies aside, today started much like last... up at 6:15, but at 7:15 to Abel Tasmen, and very little excitement on the bus ride. Once we arrived at Marahau, our day began to divert from yesterday. Today we'd signed up for "freedom sea kayaking". In other words, we rented a tandem kayak and after some paperwork, lessons and ...approval... we headed out to sea. There had been some tips given, as the wind was strong and some of the swells were... huge (though they got even bigger when we landed in the afternoon).

We all (the group of kayaks doing this adventure) put into the water where a guide gave us all a practical. We were the first group released to go. (Steering is easier with a rudder...) Anyway, we headed straight for the first island on our list, Fisherman's Island. We made it to the small beach and landed. However it quickly came to our attention that we were about 15 mind before high tide, and this particular beech was about to we submerged. With all haste we hurried our way back out to sea. We turned the corner to the western side of the island where we found shelter from both wind and waves. Here we took a breather.

We then had a rough patch where we crossed between Fisherman's Island and Adele Island. Rough only in that the wind and waves were back, not that we had troubles. Once we made it to the island we were again sheltered and relaxed as we traveled up its coast. About halfway down we found a small triangular cave, just large enough for the kayak. We went in just enough (about a boat length) to see around the bend and that the cave continued. While holding our position I learned that the pull and push of the tides were VERY strong, so we quickly pushed ourselves back out. Our little adventure however got the attention and questions of a handful of other kayaks... none of whom braved the cavern even slightly. :)

Onwards to the northern end of the island, where rumor had it seals were hanging out. Upon rounding the turn we learned that seals were indeed hanging out. In total we passed I think... 6, all of whom were napping, cleaning or sleeping and one who went diving and swimming among the rocks. They were so cute! Sadly we were once again very exposed and turned around.

We headed back to the, mainland, but a beech we were unable to visit the previous day. We stopped for lunch, a break, and some time to hang out in the sun. Without too much pause we continued, but being almost two, we headed back towards where we'd turn in for the day. About halfway back, we spotter a bird in the water about 20 yards off. It was a penguin! While I do not know its technical name, its referred to as the "little blue penguin". It too was awesome.

That was our last site and it became a long haul back. Once we passed by Fisherman's island, the swells had to be ranging 3 or 4 meters from trough to crest. It was quite tiring to fight the back of the boat into line for them, and then back to an angle to cut towards the beech. I was able to get us past the beachhead, so that we could turn and ride the swells straight in. To my knowledge only one group flipped and it wasn't us. :) grinning aside I did then help them in...

The evening was pretty quiet. Some sleep while we waited for the bus, then more on the bus. We showered and went out to eat. We were back by 9 and Margaret went straight to bed. I'm down at the bar, swapping stories with a few people and writing to you. But, now i'm done and so I too will be off soon.

P.S. I have some pictures of the beeches and the cave, but none of the swells of wildlife. While I wish I could have, it took just about all my effort to keep us in live to get good views ourselves. So, sadface... miss everybody!

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A Walk in the Park

Well, today I got up at 6... which has sorta been the norm lately. Margaret and I had made plans to go to Abel Tasmen National Park for the day and she was still feeling a bit under the weather last night. So I packed and went out to find coffee for us both, and got back in time to make sure we made the bus.

The bus ride was really nothing exciting...so i'll just skip past all of that. We drove north past Kaiteriteri to Marahau (two of the main centers for tourist activities in the park). The schedule for the day was to take a water taxi from Marahau north along the coast to Anchorage. Then we would walk back to Marahau via a 4 hour trail, but we had about 6-7 hours and could stop by beaches pretty leasurely along the way.

As was planned we boarded the water taxi, but prior to taking us north, we traveled south just around the bend. There we were shown "Split Apple Rock", and just like the name suggests... it looks like an apple split in two. After that we were taken north where we were dropped off on the beech of Anchorage where we began our walk.

We began heading uphill along a mostly clay path. Being mostly clay there was fairly limited vegetation. Due to the small plant life and the vantage point of the ridge, we were provided with some spectacular views of the park. Our first detour led us to the "watering cove". It too was well named for what it appeared to be. I went for a short swim across part of the cove to a rock in the middle and the tide was stunningly strong. It did make however a good view of the sea, divided in two by a rock spire not too far off. We continued back up and continued to find ourselves with great views, warm suns and soft beeches.

I don't mean to sound blunt, but I fear typing out each beach we stopped at will be very repetitive, both to read and write. In a nutshell we had a great hike and ended at 3:30, and killed an hour before the bus arrived to take us back to Nelson.

Some random but fun moments along the way... at one point we were passed by a father and daughter (I assume). As they passed Margaret said "awww" just enough to muffle my comment of "what a cute backpack" in reference to the mini hiking pack the girl was wearing. Margaret commented that my priorities were out of place.

In terms of wildlife there were a couple of bird spotting's but nothing spectacular. At one point a bird was fluttering... literally between us... but never staying still long enough for a picture. Later again I passed beneath a branch and was nearly deafened by a ciccata (spelling?). I was very pleased when I was able to find it and hopefully our picture turns out.

The bus ride, much like the ride in was unexciting. We got off by a fish and chips spot we'd seen earlier. It was very tasty, though we were given an obscene number of fries. Either way, looks like another relatively early night for an early start tomorrow.

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A Quiet Day...

Well originally I was going to not say anything about today... but in retrospect what I learned from today may be useful to someone... someday... maybe.

It was a rainy day so right off it was a bit... unmotivating. But, we knew that we wanted to deal with some more bookings and do some other around town sites and activities. We had breakfast at a local bakery, which was quite tasty. I believe I had a "savory swirl"...basically a roll with onion bits and bacon bits and some other tasty treats. After breakfast...9ish... we headed over to the information/help center.

While there we perused a few more booklets that we did not have the night before and we thought we were ready to book. We went through our plan and it turns out there were a few details we had been unclear on. The woman helping us was very nice and patient which was great. We had to talk a hiatus to talk amongst ourselves again (again I omit the details so as to not give away the coming events) but finally got our plan cleaned up again. All in all, we were done with reservations... for almost the entirety of the next 8 days, payment too, by 1.

Point of this all is that I was mentally exhausted. Planning is really draining and its hard to do that much and then go see sites. It didn't help that it was raining, but I think it was an important lesson.

Long story short, it was a relatively quiet afternoon, but we made ourselves a pasta dinner and got an early bed to be ready for tomorrow.

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