South Island New Zealand

Ahhh finally I get a breather to update my blog.... I picked Garret up from the airport in Christchurch about 2.5 weeks ago and I don't think we have stopped for a moment since.... we have been having so much fun together it has made my trip even more unbelievable...

After two days of chilling out in Christchurch together, we started our journey.... our first stop was Kaikoura.... Kaikoura is about a three hour drive north of Christchurch along the east coast of the south Island. There we had an unreal experience... we got to swim with a pod of over 200 wild dolphins... My parents gave me a NZ tour as a Christmas gift and I chose to swim with dolphins... Thanks Mom and Dad!! Garret and I were very fortunate to get in on a cancellation list.. (some people booked their trip over three months ago). We started with a half hour boat trip to find the dolphin pod. The skipper pulled right up and we all jumped in. The dolphins were very curious they came right up to you and the more entertaining to the dolphins you were the more the dolphins stuck around to check you out. You weren't allowed to touch the dolphins because they are wild but you could definitely interact with them. You had to swim in circles, make dolphin noises, flip your flippers around and the dolphins would play with you, they came as close as a foot away. (Jess, Good thing we used to practice being dolphins in the pool, it really paid off) The first time the dolphin pod stayed with us for over 30 mins... Garret being the ham he is was able to keep one dolphins attention for over a minute.

In Kaikoura we also visited a seal colony. The seals came right up to the land and you got to get real close to them... You weren't really supposed to get closer than 10 meters but we were very curious and went a little closer than that... take a look at the pics are we really petting the seals?

After our beautiful experience in Kaikoura we continued north to Picton and just east of Picton we did a two day hike on the Queen Charolette track, another incredibly beautiful experience!! We started in Endevour Inlet, camped at Resolution Bay then the next day hiked over to Ship Cove. Ship cove is a historic site, apparently were Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. We then hiked back out to Endevour Inlet and up a massive hill back to the car, very long day but worth it.

We then headed to Nelson, cute town... got some great Thai Food for lunch and carried on up to the Able Tasman track. We did a three day sea kayaking/camping trip along the coastal waters of the Able Tasman. Exceptionally beautiful area and we lucked out with the weather. Beautiful sunshine for three days. The pictures don't do the area justice. We saw a ton of seals along the way including 6 week old seal pups... very cute. One seal was flip flopping a fish from his nose to his tail and we got so close I thought I was going to get a fish in the face... There were also a lot of beautiful sea birds totally unique looking ones. Garret was on a penguin hunt but unfortunately the only penguin we saw was one that had been half eaten and floating. (As of today, his quest for penguins still continues)

From the Able Tasman we continued our adventures up to Paynes Ford in the Golden bay area to do some rock climbing. Garret brought all the gear and luckily I had my basic climbing gear so together we were able to get out on the rock. Paynes Ford was a great place for us to start, shorter sport climbing routes and really fun. I found it challenging because the grades here are really hard compared to at home... but we managed to get on climbs that challenged both us. It rained one of the days so we made it our rest day and headed up to the top of Golden bay to an area that is supposed to be one of the most spiritual places in New Zealand (at least that is what a hippie park ranger told me a few weeks ago). The place was called Wharariki beach. On the way home we stopped at the Mussel Inn for a pint, a local microbrewery oasis with huge mussels and great live music... so we stayed for a few more than one pint and had a great night!!

From Paynes Ford we carried on Southwest to the west Coast and made our way to an incredible rock climbing area along the West Coast named Charleston. We were blessed with a two day window of beautiful sunshine and climbed 18-35 meter sea cliffs. The seals were about 10 feet away from the belay station and the waves crashed on shore intensifying the surrounding energy. On one climb, which was at my limit for the day, Garret yelled out from the top, "hey Jame look dolphins", I took my eyes and attention off the rock for a few moments to enjoy the site of dolphins breaching in the ocean. Ok so I enjoyed the view only slightly at that moment, mostly I was freaking out at that moment but when I finally got to the top of the climb they were still there so I got to thoroughly enjoy the experience more while standing on solid ground.

From Charleston we headed south to Greymouth... someone described Greymouth exactly like the name sounds and well that is exactly what we found, a grey dreary town with not much going on... so we continued on into Aurthur's Pass. There it was our intention to climb the highest mountain in Aurthur's Pass, Mount Rolleston (2285meters). Well the weather wasn't cooperating too well so we ended up with a late 10 am start and Garret made it to the Low peak of 2215 metes and I made it to the saddle just below that. The rock was very loose, it felt like glass breaking underneath you with each step, very scary!! We made it down and headed back to the West Coast while enjoying an incredibly illuminating red sunset on the drive back.

the next day we drove along the Westcoast with intentions to stop at Franz Josef and Fox glacier and do some exploring and sightseeing but as it does on the West coast of New Zealand it was pouring rain, I mean torrential continual downpour. So instead we found these spa glacial hot pools and did the tourist thing for an evening to warm up.

Today we drove from the Westcoast inland to Wanaka, where we hope the weather cooperates with us so we can enjoy more rock and mountain climbing.

Hope you all have a beautiful day...

The day I killed a rabbit and a Fish

So after spending a couple of semi-lonely days in Wanaka hiking and one day rock climbing I was looking for another adventure... so I decided to call my Aussie friends in Queenstown to see what they were up to... sure enough Dan had organized a trip for the three of them to sea kayak into a hut stay the night and come back the next day... Seeing how i enjoyed Dan's last trip I decided to sign up for another one. They accepted my company with open arms.

Well because I was in Wanaka which is over an hour away from Queenstown I needed to wake up in the 4's for our 630 am start in Queenstown. ( I don't like waking up in the 4's for anything but I did it anyway). On my drive over to Queenstown who knew I'd be playing "Frogger" with all the rabbits on the road, they were everywhere I couldn't believe it . Now I know you are not supposed to swerve to avoid adding to the road kill but I couldn't help it, I had never killed anything on the road and didn't want to start. There were two rabbits at once both going in different directions, there was no where for me to swerve... I think at least one of them survived but I know by the bump and the thud I hit one of them. I wasn't too sure what to do, cry... say 10 hail mary's or wish the rabbit a happy trip to heaven... all I do remember doing is apologizing profusely to the poor rabbit on the road...

I got to Queesnstown confused my sin to my friends and instead of sympathy and a hug, I got a "congratulations Jamie those things are pests here, next time don't swerve hit 'em all" So much for the hail mary's

So we drove on to Lake Manuopori, we picked up our kayaks and paddled on beautiful Lake Manuopouri, stopped for lunch, cursed the sand flies that ate us alive, went for a hike/mountain climb (One of Dan's short side walks) saw the most beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area then carried on and paddled to the hut.

We found the hut and we stayed there, the sand flies were insane.. (worse than the bugs in the NWT in the summer) so we drank and ate... because we were in kayaks we could carry alcohol and all the hut goodies imaginable. We had brie cheese, chocolate, wine and beer.

Somewhere around 9pm we set a few challenges up. See Dan brought a fishing rod and was talking about catching a fish... he talked about it so much that none of us including him thought it could happen... and around 9pm the girls were getting cold and needed a fire... so the challenge was the boys were to go fishing and the girls were to make a fire. We didn't think they were going to catch a fish and they didn't think we could start a fire.... The challenge was on....

Little did they know I own a wood stove at home.. and Garret has taught me over the years how to build a fire properly... So Roweena and I had our fire going in no time laughing that we would win the challenge....

Not too long after the boys walked in carrying a 5lb trout from the lake.... none of us could believe it... we took a lot of trophy shots and then had a group decision to release the fish (75% release and 25% eat the fish) I was the 25%.... we all walked down to the lake for the trial release but the fish wasn't going anywhere except on our breakfast plates the next morning....

the only problem was the fish wasn't totally dead... he still had fight in him, so sadly because I was voted the avid animal killer of the day (I can't believe it) and because I have done it before for fish that Garret has caught... I was the one that had to bash the fish on the head with a stick... I was very apologetic and was only ok at my job... Roweena gave it a go as well, but I think she tapped the fish on the head more than anything....

so I killed a rabbit and a fish that day, we ate the fish and not the rabbit... ( I think I need something profound here but I am lost for words....)

The next am we paddled back against the wind so in river boats I would classify it like class 2 rapids upstream and just as cold as home.... but I had a smile on my face the whole time... not really but I tried to....

We finished with an awvo session on the patio in Te anu.... I stayed in Te anu and the rest of the crew carried on back to Queenstown...

Teanu is the gateway to the Milford Sound... Fiordland National Park... a very beautiful part of New Zealand... probably the most beautiful I have seen here, mountains everywhere, looks alot like the Duffey Lake Road but even more stunning ( I know its hard to believe)... and yes my camera is broken so I don't have pics, but I hope to get some from friends...

I spent a couple days doing some day hikes in the Fiordland area... I am now in Queenston hanging out for a couple days.... Queenstown is a very busy place... reminds me of Whistler.... very touristy.... but this is the area where people come to do all the adventure skydives and bungee jumps... I haven't attempted this yet... but you never know, maybe one day....

Last night I met up with an old friend from my very early Whistler days... Micheal Glock, and I got to meet his girlfriend Lisa... we had a few beers and dinner and got to reminisce and catch up...

I am heading back to Christchurch tomorrow to pick up Garret from the airport, we plan to head north from there and down along the West coast of the South Island... so I'll be on to more adventures with him up there, probably get some rock climbing and more hiking in...

So, Have a beautiful day, send me updates on what you are are up to... I love hearing about what people are doing... please keep in touch!! Big Hug Jamie