Avalanche Peak - Arthurs Pass

Hello everyone! Our apologies for the recent infrequent blogging. We've both been settling into new jobs and spending more time exploring Wellington and hanging out with the folks here so the traveling has been on hold.

But, just to keep things all warm and fuzzy for you, we've got these unpublished pics of Arthur's Pass from our past South Island adventures (back in December 2008). We drove back up the South Island on the west coast for awhile and then had to shoot back over to the east coast - which meant we had to cross over and through the Southern Alps and Arthur's Pass was a stop on that journey right in the middle of the Southern Alps.

Arthur's Pass is rumored to be one of the best day tramps in the country - although we were warned it was going to be pretty physical climbing. But the warnings were slightly soft as the climbing started immediately and held almost continuously for about 3 1/2 hours up. We climbed about 1200 meters straight up - alot of it literally using your hands to reach up to grab trees and rocks above you. It was alot like climbing a steep set of stairs with some parts filled with ladders. And the way down was only slightly less steep, so almost more dangerous :)

Lana would say that she would not recommend this trip to anyone - ever :) I would recommend
with good and sufficient cautions. But the view you receive as your reward for all that hard work is really tough to beat. The mountain tops are also the stomping grounds of the kea - a NZ bird kinda like a raptor (as you can tell by the serious beaks), but really really curious and unafraid birds. And birds used to getting fed by the trampers so they will come right up to you or buzz your tower some. The Kiwis would say they are cheeky birds :) Despite their sharp beak, they would very gently pick the food out of people's fingers. Lets just say they were a little more than Lana could warm up to . . . but they are cool looking birds :)

Best to everyone back home! Talk to you guys again soon!

Our new city; Wellington Views

Hey guys,

Been wanting to write this blog for awhile, but sometimes just hard to quit having fun long enough to sit down :)

Wellington is the political and cultural capital of New Zealand. There is always so much going on here its usually not a problem to find something fantastic to do - more of a problem to choose between all the options. Tough life, I know.

But the geography of the area is one reason it is so cool and one reason we wanted to show the pics of the city from the surrounding hills. The city is tucked into a relatively small horseshoe bay inside of a much larger bay (which is too large for the pics to show). The surrounding hills rise up steep and fast just outside the main downtown area which means that space is precious and everyone and all the fun is packed into a really compact area - we can walk almost anywhere we want to go in less than 10-15 minutes. I think there are around 400k people living here which makes it probably the same or maybe less than the size of Raleigh, NC.

The hills so close also means that we have a serious playground very close by. There is a skyline track which you can run on and bike ride on. It is where all of the pictures were taken from. I run up into the hills at least twice a week!

We just had Cuba St. Carnival which is supposed to be almost as internationally recognized as Mardi Gras in New Awlens :) It was a pretty spectacular show topped off by a two hour illuminated night parade with about any kind of craziness you can image. We have some videos which I'll try and post on You Tube since this blog site doesn't seem to take to the videos very well.

Gotta run but we'll update again soon!!

Pancake Rocks and West Coast Sunset

Hello to all. Another slightly old set of pics from the South Island tour a couple of months back. The pancake rocks were really cool. The mixed layers of sediment and limestone are carved into these fantastical shapes by the pounding Tasman Sea. As you can see, they can take on any number of crazy figures including the Where the Wild Things Are - type creatures in the guide posted at the site.

The beaches on the West Coast are not the pretty white or golden sand beaches elsewhere. More dark, rough and wild looking. Actually the whole coast is wild and rough looking, but it does have a really cool vibe to it. We scavenged the beach a bit for fugitive pieces of jade. Jade is a national symbol of NZ and sacred to the Maori culture. You can find it dredged up and deposited on the west coast like gifts from the sea. But you are not supposed to keep it and all should be turned in to the authorities as it is all by law owned by the Maori. Due to the foregoing legal conditions, we are unable to confirm or deny whether or not we saw any jade and whether we have any currently in our possession :)

Needless to say, the sunset was awesome! The sun slipped away into the pounding surf and sea water spraying in the whipping wind in a display of color unlike that which I have ever seen.

Cheers!

PS - really bummed we missed the snow back home :)

Kawarua River Bungy Jumping (Queenstown)

At least one more Queenstown blog . . . we'll catch up to the present soon enough we promise :)

These pics are of what is called the birthplace of bungy jumping (although I have not confirmed whether that is accurate). But as you can see it is a really cool looking place to bungy jump - if you're into that kindof thing. I watched several folks take the plunge and its got to be fun. You're rigged so that you stop the fall just in time to barely dip your face into the river. Lana and I did not indulge in this thrill.

The water all over the South Island is an unbelievable electric blue. Not quite Carolina blue, but really cool looking.

Tune in again soon

Fox Glacier

Our trip in Queenstown ended on December 12th at which time we made our way north via the western coastline of the south island. We had a few destinations we had to check out along our way and Fox Glacier was the first on our route. This was my first time seeing a glacier up close and it was so amazing. The staff and signs strongly suggested we not get too close but we didn't travel to the other side of the world to have to zoom in and take a photo now did we? Against all advise we walked to the foot of the glacier and even touched it before I demanded we head back immediately as I could see water falling of the glacier as it melted. Charles thought I was being a little over dramatic but since being back in Wellington we have heard of two tourist who got a little closer than recommended and actually died as part of the glacier collapsed... so I think we were pretty luck.

Kepler Track

The Kepler Track is another famous hike in the south island that we were able to do while staying in Queenstown. This one was an overnight camping trip that included what was supposed to be a 6 hour round trip hike to the top and back. I however decided my time was put to much better use by hiking about an hour and a half setting up camp and soaking up the rays next to the lake.

Charles, as usual, wanted to make it to the top and that is why you will notice just him in those scenic views from above. I think I have decided my favorite bit of vegetation is those crazy furn looking plants. They seem to take over in some places and look so amazing, I particularly love the things that poke out of the top, they just look too funny. Charles seems to prefer the trees with the Spanish moss.

As you may have also noticed from the panoramic photos, Charles is enjoying the new features and software of the camera he picked up before we left NC. You can really get a feel of things with views like these. Enjoy...