We're home in Calgary now after a ridiculously long trip. Great to be home! We've updated our photos now. Enjoy!
Huge hugs,
andrea and gavin
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Goodbye Australia!
Hello Hello!
Our final blog entry is coming from the lounge at the airport in Sydney as we wait for the beginning of our flight home - 13 hours Sydney-San Francisco, then another 3 ish to Calgary. Flying is oh so much fun :)
I can't beleive that we've come to the end of our trip. It's a little bit unreal that our five months of vacation and relaxing is ending...but we've got lots of great memories, and tons of pictures (I think over 600 just from our month in Australia - not to mention the ones from New Zealand) to share when we get home! Here's a beginning to a description of our last few weeks in Australia.
After enjoying the Carnival and fireworks in Port Douglas, we spent a night in Cairns (where we used one of the outdoor public barbeques they have EVERYWHERE in parks here to make our dinner - so fun), and then flew to Sydney. Our week in Sydney has been really relaxing and fun - helped by the fact that we stayed in the Marriott (on points - so free!) a nice change after the grimy, busy hostels that we'd been in. Both Gavin and I are getting over colds, so it was nice to have a clean room, great comfy bed and free tea all week!
We love Sydney. The architecture is beautiful, and the harbour / big city / beaches / parks combination is pretty much perfect! The first night we got in we went for a wander around the city, down to the Darling harbour, the Rocks neighbourhood and through to see the bridge and opera house all lit up at night - just stunning. We also ran into a friend of mine from high school, Kevin, and his girlfriend Shirley,
just wandering around as well...what a crazy coincidence! The rest of the week we spent on the following:
- Taking a ferry ride around the harbour and out to Manley, where we hiked up a hill and had stunning views back towards the city from on top of some cliffs plummeting into the ocean. We lucked out on the ferry ride over, and just so happened to sit down next to a nice old gentleman who decided to provide us with a mini 'guided tour' of the harbour as we went! He was so nice, just riding the ferry for a day out, and happy to share all of his little tid-bits of knowledge with us - from stories of shark attacks in the harbour, to Navy stories, to some of his stories
about growing up in Sydney during the war - very interesting man!
- Wandering down to Bondi beach to watch crazy surfers (it was a bit cool for us to get in the water - but there were a lot of hardcore surfers out)!
- Exploring paddington neighbourhood and market, wandering down Oxford street (a crazy fun people street with a gazillion clothing shops etc.) - The women in Sydney dress sooooo nicely (on average), making me feel like just a bit of a bum in my travel-clothes...so needless to say, I couldn't resist the urge of some shopping time :)
- Having lunch at the Sydney Fish market - this was an experience...Dads (both Ian and Paul) - you would have LOVED this place. Absolutely packed for lunch, all different types of fish being cooked and sold, people outside munching on everything from squid to oysters to mud crabs to fish and chips...all fighting with the seagulls to make sure they didn't steal the fish! We actually found out about it because I spent an evening at the cooking school at the fish market (as suggested by Lonely Planet - a stellar suggestion :) - I joined a class for a 'fish stir-fry'. It
was great, as I learned how to make two delicious stir fry's; one with prawns, the other with Ling - and gained tips on how to buy fresh fish, clean, store, and then cook it to perfection! The class was great, hands-on, and I met tons of super friendly locals - I would do this again in a heartbeat (unfortunately the fish bbq class was full - - next time!)
- Visiting the Sydney Opera House for an evening performance by the Sydney Symphony. This was an absolute highlight - the performance was a tribute to Jazz musician Louis Armstrong, with James Morrison as a special guest trumpeter/piano player...it was AMAZING. Our seats were behind the stage, so we were very close to the musicians. We also managed to get to the opera house nice and early for some exploring, and had a glass of champagne overlooking the harbour from inside the
opera house!!! very swanky for two backpackers :) We ended the evening with a glass of delicious Australian wine at the Opera Bar, a bar close to the opera house, again overlooking the harbour. A very special evening!!
- We also spent a lot of time this last week enjoying our free evening drinks and canapes at the Marriott (most of which became our evening meal...hmmm :), looking out at a stunning night view of the city from the 21st floor. Couldn't have been a nicer way to end the trip!
I also have to mention another highlight from our time in Sydney - the food. The food in this city is deliciously incredible. We had the best pad thai and thai curry I've EVER had, amazing fish at the fish market...and we discovered a place with the most incredible hot chocolate (we went back a grand total of 3 times to enjoy the most delectable, thick, dark hot chocolate ever). mmmmmm.
Alright - we've got to go and catch our flight now - but we've had a great time, and loved being able to share our stories with everyone back home throughout our trip! Thank you for all of the e-mails, and we can't wait to share more stories in person!!!
HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGS,
Andrea and Gavin.
Our final blog entry is coming from the lounge at the airport in Sydney as we wait for the beginning of our flight home - 13 hours Sydney-San Francisco, then another 3 ish to Calgary. Flying is oh so much fun :)
I can't beleive that we've come to the end of our trip. It's a little bit unreal that our five months of vacation and relaxing is ending...but we've got lots of great memories, and tons of pictures (I think over 600 just from our month in Australia - not to mention the ones from New Zealand) to share when we get home! Here's a beginning to a description of our last few weeks in Australia.
After enjoying the Carnival and fireworks in Port Douglas, we spent a night in Cairns (where we used one of the outdoor public barbeques they have EVERYWHERE in parks here to make our dinner - so fun), and then flew to Sydney. Our week in Sydney has been really relaxing and fun - helped by the fact that we stayed in the Marriott (on points - so free!) a nice change after the grimy, busy hostels that we'd been in. Both Gavin and I are getting over colds, so it was nice to have a clean room, great comfy bed and free tea all week!
We love Sydney. The architecture is beautiful, and the harbour / big city / beaches / parks combination is pretty much perfect! The first night we got in we went for a wander around the city, down to the Darling harbour, the Rocks neighbourhood and through to see the bridge and opera house all lit up at night - just stunning. We also ran into a friend of mine from high school, Kevin, and his girlfriend Shirley,
just wandering around as well...what a crazy coincidence! The rest of the week we spent on the following:
- Taking a ferry ride around the harbour and out to Manley, where we hiked up a hill and had stunning views back towards the city from on top of some cliffs plummeting into the ocean. We lucked out on the ferry ride over, and just so happened to sit down next to a nice old gentleman who decided to provide us with a mini 'guided tour' of the harbour as we went! He was so nice, just riding the ferry for a day out, and happy to share all of his little tid-bits of knowledge with us - from stories of shark attacks in the harbour, to Navy stories, to some of his stories
about growing up in Sydney during the war - very interesting man!
- Wandering down to Bondi beach to watch crazy surfers (it was a bit cool for us to get in the water - but there were a lot of hardcore surfers out)!
- Exploring paddington neighbourhood and market, wandering down Oxford street (a crazy fun people street with a gazillion clothing shops etc.) - The women in Sydney dress sooooo nicely (on average), making me feel like just a bit of a bum in my travel-clothes...so needless to say, I couldn't resist the urge of some shopping time :)
- Having lunch at the Sydney Fish market - this was an experience...Dads (both Ian and Paul) - you would have LOVED this place. Absolutely packed for lunch, all different types of fish being cooked and sold, people outside munching on everything from squid to oysters to mud crabs to fish and chips...all fighting with the seagulls to make sure they didn't steal the fish! We actually found out about it because I spent an evening at the cooking school at the fish market (as suggested by Lonely Planet - a stellar suggestion :) - I joined a class for a 'fish stir-fry'. It
was great, as I learned how to make two delicious stir fry's; one with prawns, the other with Ling - and gained tips on how to buy fresh fish, clean, store, and then cook it to perfection! The class was great, hands-on, and I met tons of super friendly locals - I would do this again in a heartbeat (unfortunately the fish bbq class was full - - next time!)
- Visiting the Sydney Opera House for an evening performance by the Sydney Symphony. This was an absolute highlight - the performance was a tribute to Jazz musician Louis Armstrong, with James Morrison as a special guest trumpeter/piano player...it was AMAZING. Our seats were behind the stage, so we were very close to the musicians. We also managed to get to the opera house nice and early for some exploring, and had a glass of champagne overlooking the harbour from inside the
opera house!!! very swanky for two backpackers :) We ended the evening with a glass of delicious Australian wine at the Opera Bar, a bar close to the opera house, again overlooking the harbour. A very special evening!!
- We also spent a lot of time this last week enjoying our free evening drinks and canapes at the Marriott (most of which became our evening meal...hmmm :), looking out at a stunning night view of the city from the 21st floor. Couldn't have been a nicer way to end the trip!
I also have to mention another highlight from our time in Sydney - the food. The food in this city is deliciously incredible. We had the best pad thai and thai curry I've EVER had, amazing fish at the fish market...and we discovered a place with the most incredible hot chocolate (we went back a grand total of 3 times to enjoy the most delectable, thick, dark hot chocolate ever). mmmmmm.
Alright - we've got to go and catch our flight now - but we've had a great time, and loved being able to share our stories with everyone back home throughout our trip! Thank you for all of the e-mails, and we can't wait to share more stories in person!!!
HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGS,
Andrea and Gavin.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Australia Sunshine
Hello hello!
We've been so busy the last week with our trips to Fraser Island and Sailing/scuba diving and snorkeling in the Whitsundays and making our way North that there's so much to write about! I'll apologize in advance for the length of this entry :)
We're LOVING australia - the sunshine and beaches continue to be absolutely AMAZING. We're working hard on our tans, and the weather has been cooperating BEAUTIFULLY...only sunshine, with highs around 26-29 since our last day of rain about a week and a half ago.
So to sum up our escapades over the past week-ish, we took a 2-day tour of Fraser Island, and then continued North towards Airlie Beach and our Sailing trip in the Whitsundays. It took us about 3 days to get to Airlie Beach, and we stopped at Noosa and Agnes Water on the way, two cute little towns with gorgeous beaches. We arrived in Airlie Beach the day before our sailing trip, and hung out in the town (which is pretty much a beautiful sea-side town filled with backpackers and young people working on the sail boats) and enjoyed a movie night at our hostel (Vicky, Christina, Barcelona - great movie). We then jumped abord 'Spank Me' - our sail boat for 3 nights / 4 days and sailed to the great barrier reef and the whitsunday islands. Once back in Airlie Beach, we continued north to a tiny beach town called Mission Beach for a night, and then up, past Cairns, to Port Douglas, where we are now for a few nights before we head to Cairns on Monday to catch a flight to Sydney!
A few of the highlights from the last week:
- Fraser Island - a big sand island, covered in rainforest, with the most gorgeous lakes (we swam in Lake Mackenzie, which is the most unbelievable blue colour, and lake Waby, which we had to walk to over a huge sand blow, and then pooof! there was the lake). The driving on the island is all off-road 4wd type driving in sand over tiny roads, so our tour 'monster truck' (similar to the buses on the glaciers back home) raced around the island and showed us the sites. We lucked out, and our tour, which normally should have 40 people in it only had 14, all around our age, and really fun people. So a great time :)
- Sailing. Definitely an absolute HIGHLIGHT of the entire trip. The boat (which normally should have had 26 guests and 4 crew) only had 15 guests, which was GREAT, and it was a really nice group, about 6 dutch, 5 canadians and a few brits. We sailed around the whitsunday islands, got to hang out and play frisbee on Whitehaven Beach (which is beautiful - pictures to come), and we went snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!!! It was my first time snorkeling, and it was INCREDIBLE. We had on stinger suits (thin wet-suits to protect us from the jelly-fish that
are sometimes in the water, but we didn't come across any), and snorkeled twice for about an hour each time. We swam through schools of fish that didn't seem bothered by us at all, saw the HUGEST bat fish, and even watched a beautiful sea turtle swimming along between the reefs. Gavin and I followed it for a while, and it was sooooo beautiful! The reefs were incredible - so much coral, and bright, beautiful colours, and just so many different kinds of beautiful fish - I can't even begin to do it justice by describing it!!!! We also went diving - which was awesome.
We were taken out with a diving instructor who was one of the crew on the boat, and since it was our first time, we had to do a bunch of safety stuff (learning about our diving equipment, how to come up, breathing, clearing our masks etc.) first, but then he took us down about 12 metres, and explored the reefs, even went through some tunnel-like passages among the different sections of reef (which freaked me out!!). We saw some small sharks, and a gazillion fish, a clam that was about the entire size of my arm lengthwise, fluorescent blue / purple coral. The diving was a really neat experience, definitely going to try it again! Other than the swimming activities, the time sailing the boat was really fun - - we got to laze out on the deck suntanning and chatting with the other passengers, reading and relaxing. The skipper even caught a 2.5 footlong (12-15 pound) Mackerel, which was added to our dinner... likely the freshest fish I've ever eaten! It was delicious. So overall, a HUGE highlight to the trip! On a small side-note, the snorkeling and diving has really given me a hankering for a viewing of 'Finding Nemo' - Disney nailed it with that one...the whole time we were snorkeling I kept thinking 'this is just like
Finding Nemo - I can't believe it!! We saw a whole bunch of fish that were the model for Dory, and Nemo-like fish!)
- Port Douglas Carnival - we arrived in Port Douglas yesterday to find out that it was actually one of the biggest nights of the year for this tiny town - carnival! There was a parade in the evening with lots of floats, fireworks, a mid-way and food stalls (we had delicious salt and pepper squid,accompanied by a beer watching the parade... mmmm...). Today the festivities continued with activities on the beach and some live music, so we enjoyed that as well while we played frisbee and hung out on the beach. This town in GREAT! The beach is gorgeous, with palm trees and rainforest coming right down to the beach, hiding all of the buildings behind it, so you actually feel as though it's a perfect, remote beach! The stinger season is 'over' here, so you can swim in the deliciously warm water as well (about 26 degrees).
- Last, but not least, we continue on our search for a good sighting of a live kangaroo. Unfortunately, we've seen a lot of them as very exotic roadkill...a little traumatic. We're still holding out hope for a real one soon (well, we've sen ears in the fields as we've driven through, but not a really good sighting yet). No koala's yet either...but we're keeping our eyes peeled! Hopefully we'll see some peeking out of the banana trees or sugar canes that seem to be the standard view from the car.
From Port Douglas we're going to Cairns tomorrow night, then flying to Sydney on Monday morning, and spending a week exploring all that Sydney has to offer...and then home! I can't believe this is so close to the end of the trip - but it should be a fun-filled last few days :)
HUGE HUGS to everyone back home!
a & g
We've been so busy the last week with our trips to Fraser Island and Sailing/scuba diving and snorkeling in the Whitsundays and making our way North that there's so much to write about! I'll apologize in advance for the length of this entry :)
We're LOVING australia - the sunshine and beaches continue to be absolutely AMAZING. We're working hard on our tans, and the weather has been cooperating BEAUTIFULLY...only sunshine, with highs around 26-29 since our last day of rain about a week and a half ago.
So to sum up our escapades over the past week-ish, we took a 2-day tour of Fraser Island, and then continued North towards Airlie Beach and our Sailing trip in the Whitsundays. It took us about 3 days to get to Airlie Beach, and we stopped at Noosa and Agnes Water on the way, two cute little towns with gorgeous beaches. We arrived in Airlie Beach the day before our sailing trip, and hung out in the town (which is pretty much a beautiful sea-side town filled with backpackers and young people working on the sail boats) and enjoyed a movie night at our hostel (Vicky, Christina, Barcelona - great movie). We then jumped abord 'Spank Me' - our sail boat for 3 nights / 4 days and sailed to the great barrier reef and the whitsunday islands. Once back in Airlie Beach, we continued north to a tiny beach town called Mission Beach for a night, and then up, past Cairns, to Port Douglas, where we are now for a few nights before we head to Cairns on Monday to catch a flight to Sydney!
A few of the highlights from the last week:
- Fraser Island - a big sand island, covered in rainforest, with the most gorgeous lakes (we swam in Lake Mackenzie, which is the most unbelievable blue colour, and lake Waby, which we had to walk to over a huge sand blow, and then pooof! there was the lake). The driving on the island is all off-road 4wd type driving in sand over tiny roads, so our tour 'monster truck' (similar to the buses on the glaciers back home) raced around the island and showed us the sites. We lucked out, and our tour, which normally should have 40 people in it only had 14, all around our age, and really fun people. So a great time :)
- Sailing. Definitely an absolute HIGHLIGHT of the entire trip. The boat (which normally should have had 26 guests and 4 crew) only had 15 guests, which was GREAT, and it was a really nice group, about 6 dutch, 5 canadians and a few brits. We sailed around the whitsunday islands, got to hang out and play frisbee on Whitehaven Beach (which is beautiful - pictures to come), and we went snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!!! It was my first time snorkeling, and it was INCREDIBLE. We had on stinger suits (thin wet-suits to protect us from the jelly-fish that
are sometimes in the water, but we didn't come across any), and snorkeled twice for about an hour each time. We swam through schools of fish that didn't seem bothered by us at all, saw the HUGEST bat fish, and even watched a beautiful sea turtle swimming along between the reefs. Gavin and I followed it for a while, and it was sooooo beautiful! The reefs were incredible - so much coral, and bright, beautiful colours, and just so many different kinds of beautiful fish - I can't even begin to do it justice by describing it!!!! We also went diving - which was awesome.
We were taken out with a diving instructor who was one of the crew on the boat, and since it was our first time, we had to do a bunch of safety stuff (learning about our diving equipment, how to come up, breathing, clearing our masks etc.) first, but then he took us down about 12 metres, and explored the reefs, even went through some tunnel-like passages among the different sections of reef (which freaked me out!!). We saw some small sharks, and a gazillion fish, a clam that was about the entire size of my arm lengthwise, fluorescent blue / purple coral. The diving was a really neat experience, definitely going to try it again! Other than the swimming activities, the time sailing the boat was really fun - - we got to laze out on the deck suntanning and chatting with the other passengers, reading and relaxing. The skipper even caught a 2.5 footlong (12-15 pound) Mackerel, which was added to our dinner... likely the freshest fish I've ever eaten! It was delicious. So overall, a HUGE highlight to the trip! On a small side-note, the snorkeling and diving has really given me a hankering for a viewing of 'Finding Nemo' - Disney nailed it with that one...the whole time we were snorkeling I kept thinking 'this is just like
Finding Nemo - I can't believe it!! We saw a whole bunch of fish that were the model for Dory, and Nemo-like fish!)
- Port Douglas Carnival - we arrived in Port Douglas yesterday to find out that it was actually one of the biggest nights of the year for this tiny town - carnival! There was a parade in the evening with lots of floats, fireworks, a mid-way and food stalls (we had delicious salt and pepper squid,accompanied by a beer watching the parade... mmmm...). Today the festivities continued with activities on the beach and some live music, so we enjoyed that as well while we played frisbee and hung out on the beach. This town in GREAT! The beach is gorgeous, with palm trees and rainforest coming right down to the beach, hiding all of the buildings behind it, so you actually feel as though it's a perfect, remote beach! The stinger season is 'over' here, so you can swim in the deliciously warm water as well (about 26 degrees).
- Last, but not least, we continue on our search for a good sighting of a live kangaroo. Unfortunately, we've seen a lot of them as very exotic roadkill...a little traumatic. We're still holding out hope for a real one soon (well, we've sen ears in the fields as we've driven through, but not a really good sighting yet). No koala's yet either...but we're keeping our eyes peeled! Hopefully we'll see some peeking out of the banana trees or sugar canes that seem to be the standard view from the car.
From Port Douglas we're going to Cairns tomorrow night, then flying to Sydney on Monday morning, and spending a week exploring all that Sydney has to offer...and then home! I can't believe this is so close to the end of the trip - but it should be a fun-filled last few days :)
HUGE HUGS to everyone back home!
a & g
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
searching for kangaroos and koalas...
howdy!
Still in Aus - still loving it. Awesome beaches, and until today, awesome weather! It's been between 20-25 degrees and sunny during the day-time, so lots of wandering around in the sunshine. We've been up to lots...hence little time to write a blog update. After a great week of relaxing, free buffet breakfasts (which we mostly made our one meal of the day) and pool-side luxury, we made our way to Brisbane, where we spent the weekend exploring the city and bars with our resident tour-guide/lawyer extraordinaire Gavin (Davies) and friends. It was fantastic, and started out with the New Zealand vs. Australia rugby match on Friday night. From our sixth row seats at the end-zone we saw first hand how GYNORMOUS the rugby players were as they sprinted full tilt into each other, racking up the points for a trouncing for Australia. We explored Brisbane and fell in love with the city - it's incredible. It's built all along a winding river, it has beautiful weather, awesome neighbourhoods and cafe's all around...reminded me a bit of Vancouver, but Australian. Between drinks overlooking the river at a converted powerhouse, great thai food, delicious australian shiraz we even managed to fit in a ride on the 'City Cat'...public transport that's actually an awesome boat along the river.
From Brisbane we continued northward, exploring a few small towns along the sunshine coast (Coolum Beach, Noosa, Rainbow Beach and Hervey Bay), and keeping our eyes peeled for kangaroos and koalas en route to beginning our next major adventure - Fraser Island. We've been super lucky with accomodation, somehow even scoring a 3-bedroom, living room, patio and kitchen unit for the price of a double room - travelling off season is AMAZING.
Unfortunately today we got our first day of rain - so we remedied our inability to lie on the beach with a cinema outing... the new Star Trek (who is surprised??) Tomorrow we leave for our Fraser Island adventure, and will be on the island for two days, so more coming after that!
Huge hugs,
a
Still in Aus - still loving it. Awesome beaches, and until today, awesome weather! It's been between 20-25 degrees and sunny during the day-time, so lots of wandering around in the sunshine. We've been up to lots...hence little time to write a blog update. After a great week of relaxing, free buffet breakfasts (which we mostly made our one meal of the day) and pool-side luxury, we made our way to Brisbane, where we spent the weekend exploring the city and bars with our resident tour-guide/lawyer extraordinaire Gavin (Davies) and friends. It was fantastic, and started out with the New Zealand vs. Australia rugby match on Friday night. From our sixth row seats at the end-zone we saw first hand how GYNORMOUS the rugby players were as they sprinted full tilt into each other, racking up the points for a trouncing for Australia. We explored Brisbane and fell in love with the city - it's incredible. It's built all along a winding river, it has beautiful weather, awesome neighbourhoods and cafe's all around...reminded me a bit of Vancouver, but Australian. Between drinks overlooking the river at a converted powerhouse, great thai food, delicious australian shiraz we even managed to fit in a ride on the 'City Cat'...public transport that's actually an awesome boat along the river.
From Brisbane we continued northward, exploring a few small towns along the sunshine coast (Coolum Beach, Noosa, Rainbow Beach and Hervey Bay), and keeping our eyes peeled for kangaroos and koalas en route to beginning our next major adventure - Fraser Island. We've been super lucky with accomodation, somehow even scoring a 3-bedroom, living room, patio and kitchen unit for the price of a double room - travelling off season is AMAZING.
Unfortunately today we got our first day of rain - so we remedied our inability to lie on the beach with a cinema outing... the new Star Trek (who is surprised??) Tomorrow we leave for our Fraser Island adventure, and will be on the island for two days, so more coming after that!
Huge hugs,
a
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Beach to Pool, Pool to Beach...
hello hello!
We're in Australia, just south of brisbane on the gold coast (think beachside resorts/hotels galore - a bit of marbella on steroids). It's been a glorious week of relaxing by the beach and working on our tans, which, after the last month of cold weather in NZ is just heaven. We did initially have some 'WOW - people again shock', but we're over that now :) We're staying in the Marriott (on points - woohoo!), so it's been quite an adjustment from going from our van into a room where the bathroom has about the same living space as we did for 3 months. Yes, and having a bathroom again is INCREDIBLE. We've been completely spoilt this week, going from reading by the pool, to reading on the beach, to surfing lessons (gavin is a pro-star surfer now :), and relaxing in the glorious space in our hotel room. This is also the land of cheap cheap wine, so we've been enjoying our $6 bottles of Cabernet Shiraz and Shiraz :) We've sort of planned our next steps, our direction mostly being chosen for following the warm weather to the North. We've rented a car, and after spending the weekend in Brisbane (and going to a NZ - AUS rugby match on Friday...whoohoo!), we'll head North with the final destination of Cairns (from where we'll fly to Sydney). It's a bit of a treck (all 1705 kms of it), but we have two weeks, so we think we'll make it. Our plan so far is to stop and visit the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays and the great barrier reef and just explore and get a killer tan along the way!
Huge hugs to everyone at home
A&G
We're in Australia, just south of brisbane on the gold coast (think beachside resorts/hotels galore - a bit of marbella on steroids). It's been a glorious week of relaxing by the beach and working on our tans, which, after the last month of cold weather in NZ is just heaven. We did initially have some 'WOW - people again shock', but we're over that now :) We're staying in the Marriott (on points - woohoo!), so it's been quite an adjustment from going from our van into a room where the bathroom has about the same living space as we did for 3 months. Yes, and having a bathroom again is INCREDIBLE. We've been completely spoilt this week, going from reading by the pool, to reading on the beach, to surfing lessons (gavin is a pro-star surfer now :), and relaxing in the glorious space in our hotel room. This is also the land of cheap cheap wine, so we've been enjoying our $6 bottles of Cabernet Shiraz and Shiraz :) We've sort of planned our next steps, our direction mostly being chosen for following the warm weather to the North. We've rented a car, and after spending the weekend in Brisbane (and going to a NZ - AUS rugby match on Friday...whoohoo!), we'll head North with the final destination of Cairns (from where we'll fly to Sydney). It's a bit of a treck (all 1705 kms of it), but we have two weeks, so we think we'll make it. Our plan so far is to stop and visit the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays and the great barrier reef and just explore and get a killer tan along the way!
Huge hugs to everyone at home
A&G
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
New photos!
We've put up a few new photos from our recent adventures on the south island - Marlborough wine tasting and the Queen Charlotte Area...yippee! :)
Monday, 27 April 2009
goodbye NZ
What is likely to be our last blog entry from New Zealand comes from Sumner, a sleepy and adorable little town right near christchurch. We've parked ourselves here for a few days before we head to Australia, for some of our last new zealand beach, biking and running. Our campsite is a little spot on the side of a road that leads up some hills and bluffs around Sumner, so we go to sleep at night looking out at the ocean, and lights of sumner and christchurch in the distance. It's a pretty awesome spot, hence our decision to stick around here until we say goodbye to the camper on friday.
The last week couple of weeks we've been relaxedly making our way from the Queen Charlotte Track, down through Picton, into the Marlborough wine region, back to Picton, down to a beach near amberly for a few days, up to Arthur's Pass, and now in Christchurch. A few highlights:
- A brownie Gavin discovered at a little dutch bakery in Picton that he believes are THE BEST brownies he has ever had! We had to go back and get more (hence the return to picton :) so that I could taste the brownie in order to try and copy it when we get home!
- Our day of biking through the vineyards in Marlborough, wine tasting as we went. We lucked out a couple of times...at our second vineyard, they asked us to join a 'gourmet' tasting with another couple (who had paid, we hadn't...I guess they liked that we asked lots of questions)! The tasting involved about 6 different wines, with bits of food / grapes from the vines etc. to go with it to see the different tastes and how they were brought out in the wines. Then, our third vineyard, we randomly lucked out again, and once a few of the other people tasting had left and we got to talking (and more questions...)the lady doing the tastings brought us to the back where they were in the middle of the harvest and the making of the wines, and gave us a little ad-hoc tour! Again, VERY cool - we even met the principal wine-maker who gave us some sniffs of the wine in the casks...delicious Pinot Noir. All in all, we visited about 6 vineyards that day, and learned all about the organic / sustainable wines, in addition to the harvesting techniques etc. The major wines in the area are Sauvignon Blanc and some other whites...but also some good pinto noir (including a bottle that we bought from Mahi vineyard to have on our last night in NZ!)
- Chilling by beaches - we spent a few good days just parked next to beaches, going for walks and relaxing. very fun.
- Our hike (which made the top list of hikes that we've done) in Arthur's Pass - Avalanche Peak / Scott's Track - straight up (litterally, had to use our hands to pull ourselves up rocks)...and then along a ridge or two (a little bit scary!) and then to the summit and straight down. Phenomenal views and a totally rewarding day :) The only issue with Arthur's pass was the cold - there was frost on the ground at night...and it was COOOOLLLDDD waking up in the morning!
- Christchurch - we've now been in christchurch since friday, have had a day in the city (some weekend arts market browsing, exploring the downtown, window shopping), enjoyed ANZAC day, and a night out at Dux de Lux, drinking local micro-brews (delicious), and our nightly camping spot in Sumner, which has been accompanied by mountain biking in the area (for gavin, too advanced for me), and running. Fun fun!!
Our plan is now to be in Sumner/Christchurch until Friday, when we fly to Brisbane. We're rocking the marriott points at 'Surfers' paradise' for a week (showers for a whole week...woohoo!), then two weeks of random wandering in Australia, with one week at the end in Sydney!! We're excited for it, although have some difficulty believing that our time in NZ is almost over.
Huge hugs,
a
The last week couple of weeks we've been relaxedly making our way from the Queen Charlotte Track, down through Picton, into the Marlborough wine region, back to Picton, down to a beach near amberly for a few days, up to Arthur's Pass, and now in Christchurch. A few highlights:
- A brownie Gavin discovered at a little dutch bakery in Picton that he believes are THE BEST brownies he has ever had! We had to go back and get more (hence the return to picton :) so that I could taste the brownie in order to try and copy it when we get home!
- Our day of biking through the vineyards in Marlborough, wine tasting as we went. We lucked out a couple of times...at our second vineyard, they asked us to join a 'gourmet' tasting with another couple (who had paid, we hadn't...I guess they liked that we asked lots of questions)! The tasting involved about 6 different wines, with bits of food / grapes from the vines etc. to go with it to see the different tastes and how they were brought out in the wines. Then, our third vineyard, we randomly lucked out again, and once a few of the other people tasting had left and we got to talking (and more questions...)the lady doing the tastings brought us to the back where they were in the middle of the harvest and the making of the wines, and gave us a little ad-hoc tour! Again, VERY cool - we even met the principal wine-maker who gave us some sniffs of the wine in the casks...delicious Pinot Noir. All in all, we visited about 6 vineyards that day, and learned all about the organic / sustainable wines, in addition to the harvesting techniques etc. The major wines in the area are Sauvignon Blanc and some other whites...but also some good pinto noir (including a bottle that we bought from Mahi vineyard to have on our last night in NZ!)
- Chilling by beaches - we spent a few good days just parked next to beaches, going for walks and relaxing. very fun.
- Our hike (which made the top list of hikes that we've done) in Arthur's Pass - Avalanche Peak / Scott's Track - straight up (litterally, had to use our hands to pull ourselves up rocks)...and then along a ridge or two (a little bit scary!) and then to the summit and straight down. Phenomenal views and a totally rewarding day :) The only issue with Arthur's pass was the cold - there was frost on the ground at night...and it was COOOOLLLDDD waking up in the morning!
- Christchurch - we've now been in christchurch since friday, have had a day in the city (some weekend arts market browsing, exploring the downtown, window shopping), enjoyed ANZAC day, and a night out at Dux de Lux, drinking local micro-brews (delicious), and our nightly camping spot in Sumner, which has been accompanied by mountain biking in the area (for gavin, too advanced for me), and running. Fun fun!!
Our plan is now to be in Sumner/Christchurch until Friday, when we fly to Brisbane. We're rocking the marriott points at 'Surfers' paradise' for a week (showers for a whole week...woohoo!), then two weeks of random wandering in Australia, with one week at the end in Sydney!! We're excited for it, although have some difficulty believing that our time in NZ is almost over.
Huge hugs,
a
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Queen Charlotte Activity Extravaganza :)
Hello hello!
We're now in Blenheim, after spending a fantastic few days in the marlborough sounds. From our little stop in Nelson, we drove east and north, up towards the Queen Charlotte Walkway. Gavin had been planning a bit of an activity-extravaganza, so after our day or two of 'relax' in Nelson, we were on our way for some serious mountain biking. We spent the first night near our starting point, a gorgeous, lazy easter monday...we even blew up the inflatable kayak and launched it (with both of us on it!) in a little bay, where we chilled out sipping beer / cider before the sun went down, floating amid the jelly fish (there were hundreds!). A relaxing start before the activity! We had stopped to get some mussels in the 'greenshell mussel capital of the WORLD' (haverlock), and roasted them for dinner on the bbq (although
they weren't particularly good - but we tried them! the hugest mussels I've ever seen as well!)
The Queen Charlotte Walkway is a 71km hike that meanders through the hills/valleys of the sounds, and crosses a few saddles, with gorgeous views of the ocean and the sounds (which is basically like cottage country in Ontario, with less cottages, and ocean instead of lake, and big hills/mountains on either side). Most people do the hike in 3-5 days, getting dropped off at one end, and picked up/getting to their car at the other end. We chose to do it in 3 days, but biking / running the trail (and sleeping in our camper each night), which caused some backtracking, as it basically meant that we did the trail twice...this is what the extravaganza looked like:
Day 1: Started at Torea Saddle, and mountain biked UP 400m (I pushed my bike up 400 meters of switchbacks...fun times...gavin would bike up, and wait for me at the top of the hills. I've realized I can mountain bike, but not uphill... :) then we meandered down through about 20kms of single track to the end point of the trail. Gorgeous mountain biking. I then chilled out with a latte at the end of the trail, and Gavin proceeded to bike BACK across the 20kms to get the van, and drive to where I was, picked me up, and then we dropped our bikes up at our starting point from the day, and drove further down the trail for our next section start for day 2.
Day 2: Started at Kenepuru saddle, and ran 23 kms across this section of trail (about a total of 300m of height - I learned I'm also a slow runner-up hills), to where we had put the bikes (and started the previous day). We then biked about 20kms back to the beginning of the run (on the road, not the trail).
We were going to hike that section, but decided it would be more fun (and challenging!) to try and run it...it's the longest I've ever ran! I even got my congratulations from Lance Armstrong on my nike running thing on my IPOD...now I just have to beat that... :) We got back to the van, EXHAUSTED, and rinsed ourselves off with our buckets of water and rinsed out our clothes, in preparation for day 3!
(doing activity and not having access to showers is a bit of a challenge :)
Day 3: We started from the same point as the day before, but went the other way to the end of the trail - this time by mountain bike. About 40kms (there and back) of glorious single track. Despite the run the day before, we were feeling pretty good, and I only fell once (damn roots and rocks...but I really had no excuse this time, as I was too chicken to clip in for most of the trail! :P) We got nice and muddy, so
the bright spot in the end of the day was that we even managed to score a shower from one of the lodges along the track...our first real hot shower in a few weeks!! :)
Yesterday we gave our legs a break and had a 'rain' day in the camper, which involved a pancake breakfast, movies and popcorn. And now today we're on our way through Picton and Blenheim (stocking up, doing laundry, getting groceries), before we head off tomorrow on a bike ride around the vineyards in the marlborough wine region. Very excited about it! :)
We're coming to the end of our time in New Zealand - so sad, but we've had an incredible time! We have a few more things planned before we leave (a hike or two, a few more bikes, and some time in Christchurch), and then on the 1st of May we're off to Australia!
Huge hugs to everyone back home!
a
We're now in Blenheim, after spending a fantastic few days in the marlborough sounds. From our little stop in Nelson, we drove east and north, up towards the Queen Charlotte Walkway. Gavin had been planning a bit of an activity-extravaganza, so after our day or two of 'relax' in Nelson, we were on our way for some serious mountain biking. We spent the first night near our starting point, a gorgeous, lazy easter monday...we even blew up the inflatable kayak and launched it (with both of us on it!) in a little bay, where we chilled out sipping beer / cider before the sun went down, floating amid the jelly fish (there were hundreds!). A relaxing start before the activity! We had stopped to get some mussels in the 'greenshell mussel capital of the WORLD' (haverlock), and roasted them for dinner on the bbq (although
they weren't particularly good - but we tried them! the hugest mussels I've ever seen as well!)
The Queen Charlotte Walkway is a 71km hike that meanders through the hills/valleys of the sounds, and crosses a few saddles, with gorgeous views of the ocean and the sounds (which is basically like cottage country in Ontario, with less cottages, and ocean instead of lake, and big hills/mountains on either side). Most people do the hike in 3-5 days, getting dropped off at one end, and picked up/getting to their car at the other end. We chose to do it in 3 days, but biking / running the trail (and sleeping in our camper each night), which caused some backtracking, as it basically meant that we did the trail twice...this is what the extravaganza looked like:
Day 1: Started at Torea Saddle, and mountain biked UP 400m (I pushed my bike up 400 meters of switchbacks...fun times...gavin would bike up, and wait for me at the top of the hills. I've realized I can mountain bike, but not uphill... :) then we meandered down through about 20kms of single track to the end point of the trail. Gorgeous mountain biking. I then chilled out with a latte at the end of the trail, and Gavin proceeded to bike BACK across the 20kms to get the van, and drive to where I was, picked me up, and then we dropped our bikes up at our starting point from the day, and drove further down the trail for our next section start for day 2.
Day 2: Started at Kenepuru saddle, and ran 23 kms across this section of trail (about a total of 300m of height - I learned I'm also a slow runner-up hills), to where we had put the bikes (and started the previous day). We then biked about 20kms back to the beginning of the run (on the road, not the trail).
We were going to hike that section, but decided it would be more fun (and challenging!) to try and run it...it's the longest I've ever ran! I even got my congratulations from Lance Armstrong on my nike running thing on my IPOD...now I just have to beat that... :) We got back to the van, EXHAUSTED, and rinsed ourselves off with our buckets of water and rinsed out our clothes, in preparation for day 3!
(doing activity and not having access to showers is a bit of a challenge :)
Day 3: We started from the same point as the day before, but went the other way to the end of the trail - this time by mountain bike. About 40kms (there and back) of glorious single track. Despite the run the day before, we were feeling pretty good, and I only fell once (damn roots and rocks...but I really had no excuse this time, as I was too chicken to clip in for most of the trail! :P) We got nice and muddy, so
the bright spot in the end of the day was that we even managed to score a shower from one of the lodges along the track...our first real hot shower in a few weeks!! :)
Yesterday we gave our legs a break and had a 'rain' day in the camper, which involved a pancake breakfast, movies and popcorn. And now today we're on our way through Picton and Blenheim (stocking up, doing laundry, getting groceries), before we head off tomorrow on a bike ride around the vineyards in the marlborough wine region. Very excited about it! :)
We're coming to the end of our time in New Zealand - so sad, but we've had an incredible time! We have a few more things planned before we leave (a hike or two, a few more bikes, and some time in Christchurch), and then on the 1st of May we're off to Australia!
Huge hugs to everyone back home!
a
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Abel Tasman and Golden Bay
Hello from Nelson!
We're spending a lazy weekend here - thinking of everyone at home, hoping that you're enjoying your easter-egg hunts and the long easter weekend :)
A quick blog-update (and hopefully we'll have some new photos up as well from our recent hikes, bikes and kayaks as Gavin is currently updating those). We've been having a great time (do I say that in every entry??). We moved from the West coast up to the North West of the South Island, heading through Motueka and booking our kayak trip in Abel Tasman, followed by some waiting out the weather for a few days in Golden Bay before taking to the sea in our double 'sea bear' kayak in the gorgeous Abel Tasman National Park. The slogan on the hatch of the sea kayak was 'It's better with a friend'... and I have to say, I agree, especially when that friend is a boy who can paddle quite well in big waves and against the wind, and has a knack for spotting penguins in the distance...wait, that's not a penguin, it's another seagull... :)
Abel Tasman Park is incredible. It's NZ's smallest national park, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in stunning scenery. Crystal clear waters, rugged coastline interspersed with beautiful, sometimes deserted beaches, islands teeming with seals (and seal pups that we saw playing in the water about 2 meters from our kayak). Incredible (and I'm not copying the adverts - that's exactly what we saw)!. Oh, and did I mention that in the entire 2-day period that we were kayaking, we killed ONLY 4 SANDFLIES between us??? There were practically NO BUGS...which meant that we could relax and just enjoy the sun and beaches. We started by taking a water taxi, with our kayak strapped onto the back of the boat, up to our starting point near Onetahuti beach, where the water taxi dropped us off, and we were on our own to kayak back down to the beginning of the park by 4pm the next day. We camped the night at a tiny campsite (only room for 6 tents) on Medlands beach (rented a tent and stove from the kayak place, a great alternative to staying in a hut - no snoring old men keeping us awake at night :) The kayaking was awesome, we went at our own pace, explored the coves at high tide, paddled around the islands with seals, tried to find penguins, and really just had a fantastic time. The wind magically turned to come from behind most of the time, so it was pretty relaxing kayaking. Although it got a little chilly at night (there was frost!!!), we had a perfectly clear, full moon to light our dinner (and great weather for all of the kayaking as well)!
Otherwise, we really enjoying the few days we spent in Golden Bay area - exploring the super hippy-dippity town of takaka, a bike ride out to some deserted beaches on the west coast, a night spent at the DOC campground at the northern tip of Abel Tasman, which included a trail run down and back one section of the tramping track (and my knee didn't hurt at all - so relieved), and some cider and beer driking relaxing on the beach :) We did have a day of absolutely pouring rain, which steered us into 'Mussel Inn' for some mussel chowder and reading, and some laundry-ing at a local campsite. We blissfully spent our time in Golden bay (about 5 days) totally unaware of the time...apparently NZ changed over to daylight savings, and we only found out when we showed up at the kayak rental on THURSDAY at 7:30am (or what we thought was 8:30am)...ooops, almost a full week after the change-over! :)
I'm now watching the sun-set, in my fold-out chair next to the van, parked on the pier in Nelson, fully relaxed after spending the day in the city, buying some fresh fruits and veggies at the saturday market in the city, and enjoying a latte on the patio of a cute little cafe. We're about to start some bbq-ing - we're attempting some fish on the bbq tonight, tarakihi fillets with fresh veggies. mmmm. Actually, I should get on that before the sun goes down! HUGE HUGS, a
We're spending a lazy weekend here - thinking of everyone at home, hoping that you're enjoying your easter-egg hunts and the long easter weekend :)
A quick blog-update (and hopefully we'll have some new photos up as well from our recent hikes, bikes and kayaks as Gavin is currently updating those). We've been having a great time (do I say that in every entry??). We moved from the West coast up to the North West of the South Island, heading through Motueka and booking our kayak trip in Abel Tasman, followed by some waiting out the weather for a few days in Golden Bay before taking to the sea in our double 'sea bear' kayak in the gorgeous Abel Tasman National Park. The slogan on the hatch of the sea kayak was 'It's better with a friend'... and I have to say, I agree, especially when that friend is a boy who can paddle quite well in big waves and against the wind, and has a knack for spotting penguins in the distance...wait, that's not a penguin, it's another seagull... :)
Abel Tasman Park is incredible. It's NZ's smallest national park, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in stunning scenery. Crystal clear waters, rugged coastline interspersed with beautiful, sometimes deserted beaches, islands teeming with seals (and seal pups that we saw playing in the water about 2 meters from our kayak). Incredible (and I'm not copying the adverts - that's exactly what we saw)!. Oh, and did I mention that in the entire 2-day period that we were kayaking, we killed ONLY 4 SANDFLIES between us??? There were practically NO BUGS...which meant that we could relax and just enjoy the sun and beaches. We started by taking a water taxi, with our kayak strapped onto the back of the boat, up to our starting point near Onetahuti beach, where the water taxi dropped us off, and we were on our own to kayak back down to the beginning of the park by 4pm the next day. We camped the night at a tiny campsite (only room for 6 tents) on Medlands beach (rented a tent and stove from the kayak place, a great alternative to staying in a hut - no snoring old men keeping us awake at night :) The kayaking was awesome, we went at our own pace, explored the coves at high tide, paddled around the islands with seals, tried to find penguins, and really just had a fantastic time. The wind magically turned to come from behind most of the time, so it was pretty relaxing kayaking. Although it got a little chilly at night (there was frost!!!), we had a perfectly clear, full moon to light our dinner (and great weather for all of the kayaking as well)!
Otherwise, we really enjoying the few days we spent in Golden Bay area - exploring the super hippy-dippity town of takaka, a bike ride out to some deserted beaches on the west coast, a night spent at the DOC campground at the northern tip of Abel Tasman, which included a trail run down and back one section of the tramping track (and my knee didn't hurt at all - so relieved), and some cider and beer driking relaxing on the beach :) We did have a day of absolutely pouring rain, which steered us into 'Mussel Inn' for some mussel chowder and reading, and some laundry-ing at a local campsite. We blissfully spent our time in Golden bay (about 5 days) totally unaware of the time...apparently NZ changed over to daylight savings, and we only found out when we showed up at the kayak rental on THURSDAY at 7:30am (or what we thought was 8:30am)...ooops, almost a full week after the change-over! :)
I'm now watching the sun-set, in my fold-out chair next to the van, parked on the pier in Nelson, fully relaxed after spending the day in the city, buying some fresh fruits and veggies at the saturday market in the city, and enjoying a latte on the patio of a cute little cafe. We're about to start some bbq-ing - we're attempting some fish on the bbq tonight, tarakihi fillets with fresh veggies. mmmm. Actually, I should get on that before the sun goes down! HUGE HUGS, a
Saturday, 4 April 2009
On the road again
Hello from Lyell....
For those of you who haven't heard of Lyell, here's a brief description: It's a small grassy field, surrounded by rainforest covered mountains, by the side of highway SH7. It used to be a town in the gold rush days, but no town now, just field (and a DOC campground, that is also just a field and a few stone fireplaces). This is where tonight's long overdue blog entry comes from.
We've been on the move for the last week. after our two weeks in Fiordland, we decided it was time to cover some more ground. It's been fantastic. We've had mostly sunshine and warm days to make everything even better (although it's getting chilly at night...summer is definitely over here)!
Here's a brief outline of where we've been:
- Our summarized route: The catlins - dunedin - otago peninsula - otago central rail trail/Alexandra - Franz Joseph/ fox Glacier - Hokitika - Karamea/Heaphy Track - Lyell/Charming Creek, and we're headed up to Nelson / Golden Bay and Marlborough next!
Some highlights:
- the Catlins: Gorgeous rolling hills and deserted beaches. We found a perfect little campspot by the side of an inlet, walked along sandy bay and met about 10 sea lions, lazing around. One large male even blocked our path to the second beach where we could see seals playing in the waves...he refused to move (Gavin is not particularly adept at barganing with a large, male sea lion...he succeded in making it growl/bark at us and move more menacingly into the middle of the pathway. We then had to pick our way through the sand dunes around the sea lion, hoping to not run into any more dosing giants). Unfortunately, the seals we thought we say playing in the waves were actually surfers. Whooops.
- Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula: From the catlins, we drove up to Dunedin, where we found the MOST BEAUTIFUL campsite, on the top of a small hill, overlooking two bays, each with 200+ m long beaches populated with seals and sea lions (you'll see pictures)...it was a popular freedom camping spot, and we stayed two nights. at the end of the point was 'lover's leap', where Gavin tried to give me a 'love shove' over the edge :). Dunedin was a cool university town (byob or $5 pitchers and a free pizza at a bar?definitely sweet as), but otherwise doesn't make our top list of cities.
- Otago Central Rail Trail: from dunedin we dabbled with a day of biking on the Otago Central Rail Trail - an old rain line that was converted into a bike trail. The whole thing is about 180 km's - we chose a 30km section and did it there and back, which involved biking through farmland, across bridges, and through old railway tunnels. a very fun day.
- Glaciers: We booted our way from the rail trail to the glaciers, took a quick walk up to the fox glacier, and then scooted to a campsite not far from the franz joseph glacier...packed with people enjoying the ice. We decided to save our pennies for a kayak trip in Abel Tasman, and did not join a guided tour of the glaciers...
- Hokitika: We stopped in this cute little town by the sea - it's specialty is jade carvings and jewlery...I had intended on purchasing an item for my 'collection'...but they all looked the same (and not so much my style), so no dice there. Although I did have a VERY good latte purchased from a VERY hippy-dippity (as Gavin likes to call it) coffee shop!
- Karamea / heaphy track: After Hokitika, we went as far north along the west coast as we could. The drive between Greymouth and Westport was SPECTACULAR. Beaches, cliffs, mountains, beaches, cliffs, mountains...we then continued past westport to Karamea, and past Karamea (which is the end of the highway) about 40kms to a tiny DOC campsite. Picture jagged mountains covered in rainforest, and miles of deserted beaches, all coming together...and that was where we camped for the night. GORGEOUS. The BEST campsite EVER...except for the fact that we had to enjoy the view from inside the camper as the sandflies were horrendous. Seriously...we were supposed to bbq for dinner, and it was too painful to expose your hands / face outside for any period of time, so we made dinner inside (beans and toast...mmmm...). We tried to be outside at the beginning, but then when we got into the camper there were HUNDREDS of sandflies on the windows inside. so we had a sandfly hunt and killed a bagillion of them, so many that we had to wash the inside of the windows today at the gas station to get rid of the gross bugsmears all over them! But I digress - the best part of this campsite was that not only was it beautiful, it was also the start/end point for one of new zealand's Great Walks (the Heaphy track). We decided to hike in to the first hut and back for a day hike, 30kms total of wandering through rainforest to deserted beaches all along the coast. It was truly an AMAZING hike - we had each beach that we came across all to ourselves, and even the tramping through the rainforest was cool. The only issue (yet again) was the sandflies - so we ate lunch on the go (they're not bad while you're moving...when you stop, they SWARM you) - which meant 7 hours of non-stop walking...my legs were a bit tired by the end :)
- Charming creek: Today we went for a mountain bike ride up to and along Charming creek - another old rail line previously used for coal mining. This one was a little more intense than the meandering trail of the Otago central rail trail, so I found myself carrying my bike around some rock slips and along some tiny suspension bridges...but overall, a great bike ride...pretty amazing when you're in the trees, and then suddenly the trail seems to end at a gorge with a HUGE waterfall!! not only that, but more tunnels and bridges.
Well, those are the highlights of the last week and a bit - we'll try and post photos as soon as we can! We're happy to be in the North (it's a bit warmer than in the south!) We've booked into Abel Tasman for a two-day kayak for thursday / friday of this week, and will be relaxing / hiking / biking in golden bay until then :) yippee!
HUGE HUGS,
A (and G - he helped a bit on this one too)
For those of you who haven't heard of Lyell, here's a brief description: It's a small grassy field, surrounded by rainforest covered mountains, by the side of highway SH7. It used to be a town in the gold rush days, but no town now, just field (and a DOC campground, that is also just a field and a few stone fireplaces). This is where tonight's long overdue blog entry comes from.
We've been on the move for the last week. after our two weeks in Fiordland, we decided it was time to cover some more ground. It's been fantastic. We've had mostly sunshine and warm days to make everything even better (although it's getting chilly at night...summer is definitely over here)!
Here's a brief outline of where we've been:
- Our summarized route: The catlins - dunedin - otago peninsula - otago central rail trail/Alexandra - Franz Joseph/ fox Glacier - Hokitika - Karamea/Heaphy Track - Lyell/Charming Creek, and we're headed up to Nelson / Golden Bay and Marlborough next!
Some highlights:
- the Catlins: Gorgeous rolling hills and deserted beaches. We found a perfect little campspot by the side of an inlet, walked along sandy bay and met about 10 sea lions, lazing around. One large male even blocked our path to the second beach where we could see seals playing in the waves...he refused to move (Gavin is not particularly adept at barganing with a large, male sea lion...he succeded in making it growl/bark at us and move more menacingly into the middle of the pathway. We then had to pick our way through the sand dunes around the sea lion, hoping to not run into any more dosing giants). Unfortunately, the seals we thought we say playing in the waves were actually surfers. Whooops.
- Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula: From the catlins, we drove up to Dunedin, where we found the MOST BEAUTIFUL campsite, on the top of a small hill, overlooking two bays, each with 200+ m long beaches populated with seals and sea lions (you'll see pictures)...it was a popular freedom camping spot, and we stayed two nights. at the end of the point was 'lover's leap', where Gavin tried to give me a 'love shove' over the edge :). Dunedin was a cool university town (byob or $5 pitchers and a free pizza at a bar?definitely sweet as), but otherwise doesn't make our top list of cities.
- Otago Central Rail Trail: from dunedin we dabbled with a day of biking on the Otago Central Rail Trail - an old rain line that was converted into a bike trail. The whole thing is about 180 km's - we chose a 30km section and did it there and back, which involved biking through farmland, across bridges, and through old railway tunnels. a very fun day.
- Glaciers: We booted our way from the rail trail to the glaciers, took a quick walk up to the fox glacier, and then scooted to a campsite not far from the franz joseph glacier...packed with people enjoying the ice. We decided to save our pennies for a kayak trip in Abel Tasman, and did not join a guided tour of the glaciers...
- Hokitika: We stopped in this cute little town by the sea - it's specialty is jade carvings and jewlery...I had intended on purchasing an item for my 'collection'...but they all looked the same (and not so much my style), so no dice there. Although I did have a VERY good latte purchased from a VERY hippy-dippity (as Gavin likes to call it) coffee shop!
- Karamea / heaphy track: After Hokitika, we went as far north along the west coast as we could. The drive between Greymouth and Westport was SPECTACULAR. Beaches, cliffs, mountains, beaches, cliffs, mountains...we then continued past westport to Karamea, and past Karamea (which is the end of the highway) about 40kms to a tiny DOC campsite. Picture jagged mountains covered in rainforest, and miles of deserted beaches, all coming together...and that was where we camped for the night. GORGEOUS. The BEST campsite EVER...except for the fact that we had to enjoy the view from inside the camper as the sandflies were horrendous. Seriously...we were supposed to bbq for dinner, and it was too painful to expose your hands / face outside for any period of time, so we made dinner inside (beans and toast...mmmm...). We tried to be outside at the beginning, but then when we got into the camper there were HUNDREDS of sandflies on the windows inside. so we had a sandfly hunt and killed a bagillion of them, so many that we had to wash the inside of the windows today at the gas station to get rid of the gross bugsmears all over them! But I digress - the best part of this campsite was that not only was it beautiful, it was also the start/end point for one of new zealand's Great Walks (the Heaphy track). We decided to hike in to the first hut and back for a day hike, 30kms total of wandering through rainforest to deserted beaches all along the coast. It was truly an AMAZING hike - we had each beach that we came across all to ourselves, and even the tramping through the rainforest was cool. The only issue (yet again) was the sandflies - so we ate lunch on the go (they're not bad while you're moving...when you stop, they SWARM you) - which meant 7 hours of non-stop walking...my legs were a bit tired by the end :)
- Charming creek: Today we went for a mountain bike ride up to and along Charming creek - another old rail line previously used for coal mining. This one was a little more intense than the meandering trail of the Otago central rail trail, so I found myself carrying my bike around some rock slips and along some tiny suspension bridges...but overall, a great bike ride...pretty amazing when you're in the trees, and then suddenly the trail seems to end at a gorge with a HUGE waterfall!! not only that, but more tunnels and bridges.
Well, those are the highlights of the last week and a bit - we'll try and post photos as soon as we can! We're happy to be in the North (it's a bit warmer than in the south!) We've booked into Abel Tasman for a two-day kayak for thursday / friday of this week, and will be relaxing / hiking / biking in golden bay until then :) yippee!
HUGE HUGS,
A (and G - he helped a bit on this one too)
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