Hiking Mt Robert in Nelson Lakes National Park

Title: Hiking Mt Robert in Nelson Lakes National Park

So the next morning I awake (as I seem to every morning) at 7:30 AM and I am a bit disappointed to see that the grey room has closed in again. Yes we are in the cloud again, and even though we are “inland” – Hope Saddle approximately equidistant from the north, west and east coasts – the grey misting cloud that makes everything drip has the distinct smell of the sea. So, I decide to let Gen sleep while I read in my book. After all what is the hurry? Go hike in the mist at Nelson Lakes? To see nothing? Besides, Gen is obviously sleeping soundly and she deserves her rest!

About 8:30 Gen wakes, and we make the hot water for oatmeal and coffee (our two respective breakfasts). While we are doing our morning re-arranging of the van (at night all the bags move to the front two seats to make room for our sleeping area, it is a vanette and not a van, after all), an older fellow pulls up in an absolutely beautiful, obviously well taken care of 1976 Toyota Landcruiser with a snorkel. I say, “what a beautiful jeep! I bet that will take you places.” He smiles, and says, “You know what is the best thing about her?” and honks the horn, and it makes this old granny type of honk! He then pops the hood and shows me the Nissan diesel engine in it, and says that it will run no matter where you take it, and tells me that he has had it in such deep water that the interior of the car has flooded out. “Can’t stop a good diesel engine,” he says. So this starts another about ½ hour long conversation, where he shares with Genevieve a bunch of information about the various plants around the car park, “Now this is a flax plant, you can eat the fruit at the very center of it.” And “Oh I guarantee there are kiwi (birds) in this bit of brush right here.” And, “It is easy to live cheaply in New Zealand. You cant walk but a mile into the bush without running into a deer or a pig or something you can shoot and eat, and if you stay away from the touristy areas, the water is clean enough to drink right out of the creek.”

His name is Lance, lives in Nelson, and stops here as a matter of habit to stretch his legs while driving between Nelson and the gold mine he works at 6 days at a stretch somewhere on the west coast. “Six days on, six days off, 12 hours a day…. I can drive any of their machines, so I never know what I’m going to do.”

We found it ironic that he deplored the small amount of garbage at the rest stop, while he worked in a modern gold strip mine! “We went in there where the old fellas had made shafts, and we are taking out the whole mountain. We are about a kilometer in diameter and at about 200 meters deep. The deeper we go, the richer the find. About $3.5 million/day, they are making….So much gold you can just pick it up off the ground and see it in your hands, but don’t put your hand in your pockets! Instant dismissal, that is. Gold on the cab floor, gold in all the machinery, gold along the roads, gold everywhere.” He also shared his disdain for foreign tourists, as we shared Genevieve’s coffee with him, “Oh that’s good coffee, that is.” He continued, “I’d say don’t let any of them in, throwing their garbage about, but you gotta take the good with the bad. I love it here, lived here all my life, seems only fair to share it with them, too.” Another interesting character.

And on sharing his love of the land, he shared this little tidbit, “Best thing about New Zealand is that nothing here is trying to kill ya. In Aussie, everything is trying to bite ya, here, everything wants to know ya.” And recounted (for we have seen it with our own eyes) how the Weka "will come right up and eat the shoes off your feet."

He was a wealth of information, like Ann was on the Queen Charlotte hike, just a little bit different info. He told us that they had found a female Tuatara, a native lizard that had been thought to be extinct except for the specimens in captivity. He also told me that only 1 million people live on the South Island (or something like one person per 100 sq km), and that there were whole huge parts of the Island that have never been explored by whites. So Genevieve’s hope to see a Moa (a huge flightless bird, bigger than an ostrich), was confirmed by Lance, “I am sure there is some of them somewhere, we just haven’t found them yet.” It was kind of re-assuring after finally figuring out that all these big evergreens with their lower branches all pruned up, growing in nice tidy rows along most of the highways are all actually tree farms, that there was still lots of unexplored New Zealand outside the great National Parks. He also informed Genevieve that you can eat the Mountain Cabbage tree’s soft parts too, that is why they are called cabbage trees.

So we collected our things and headed for Nelson Lakes National Park. After all, the weather may be bad, but if we say in Colorado, if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, from my observations the New Zealand equivalent has got to be, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a second.” The weather here is THAT changeable.

At the Mt Robert Car park in Nelson Lakes National Park, we met yet another great NZ character also filled with fascinating facts. Apparently, all the landscape near the Park is only 3 to 5 million years old, as we were at or near a fault line between the Australia Plate and the Pacific Plate. He warned us to be on the lookout for the indigenous Green Parrot, called the Kea, as it will eat anything and everything. “It’ll eat your car if you let it. Its true, ask the rental car people. Dang bird eats the windshield wipers, and the rubber off the tires.” He also expressed his disappointment at new farms that were encroaching on the bush of the Park.

The weather started to look as if it might clear again, just like the previous day, so we started up the Mt Robert trail above Lake Rotoiti. Unfortunately, Genevieve’s camera’s battery died, too. Which means we have very few pictures of this day hike. The day did indeed turn spectacular. And this lake that we are climbing above is HUGE, yet it is small compared to the many other large lakes on the New Zealand South Island Map, which makes me start to grasp the amount of fresh water this island is blessed with. So we have seen many rivers and creeks, and the rivers can get VERY wide. Plus all these lakes? Holy crap, that is a LOT of fresh (and crystal clear) water. The guy at the bottom (sorry didn’t catch his name) said something about a meter of rain a day, “makes New Zealand, New Zealand.”

So this is a nice hike, but it was a little disappointing as the terrain was the most similar to Colorado as I have seen so far. Not that it wasn’t drop dead gorgeous (it was) just that if you are in New Zealand for a short trip, there are other place to go that are more exotic.

So in the treed areas of this hike, the same green moss and ferns and trees as on Mt Arthur are in abundance, and the ground is wet like a sponge (obviously why the trees grow where they do.) Where the track was out in the open, it was hard like any trail in Colorado.

So as we climbed Mt Robert, it kept looking like we would get into the cloud. But as we climbed the mist cleared before us….Again our luck with the weather and conditions continues to hold. We did get into the cloud, and again, the temperature change is dramatic (much colder). We were again in the grey room, and the views, which were starting to open, closed up around us tight. But by the time we got to the top, the view out the back was stunning…. More snow covered peaks in the distance with lower not snow covered peaks forming the valley edge above the lake to our left.

As we sat on the top and had our lunch, the blue-bird day came out in force. My god! The Views were stupendous up here! To the west it was Mountains, with mountains behind them, and then more mountains, and yet another range – five or six ranges, one behind the other to the horizon! And below us to the northwest a beautiful green farm filled valley, with the Owen range towering above it, and to the east/northeast, more green valley to Blenheim in the distance. And to the north smaller, round green mountains covered in trees (tree farms maybe) they called those mountains “Knobs” but mountains they would be called in the US, for mountains they are!

I decided to walk to the edge of Christie’s ridge before heading down the trail to see what was around the ridge in front of us (behind Mt Robert). We were well above tree line here, and the valley below seemed much further down vertically than any back home in Colorado (I am sure it was). I walked to the edge to look down upon the blue, blue waters of the top of Lake Rotiri and the meandering stream that fed it in the valley floor so far below. And even though it was dirt and rock on Christie's Ridge, it wasn’t hard ground. I left visible footprints as I sank a quarter inch into the soft, rocky ground! It was delightful on my back to walk on this soft ground, like walking on a thick foam pad. It was so soft, that when I went back out, I felt a need to rather meticulously follow my same footprints out. After all I come from the tradition of “leave only footprints, take only pictures.”

It was worth the ½ hour trip, as even more, incredibly impressive snow covered peaks revealed themselves around the rocky ridge (that made one of the few pictures). One further back, and three or four closer in (the big one must be Angelus), closer to that obscuring ridge. It was spectacular, gorgeous. There is a very distinct tree line at just the same elevation along the valley wall opposite. God I wished I had more pictures from this hike!

As I started my descent, a glider (sailplane?) came gliding overhead silently, so close I could make out its call numbers, TH 4408. He is gaining altitude in this breeze off the shoulder of Mt Robert.

Ah New Zealand! Alpine mountains and tundra (or is it just short grasses?) above green, green trees and valleys; clouds…. Mountains everywhere! So many mountains I can see from here, and I can only see such a very small part of the South Island – the north part of the South Island. I can only imagine (or actually can’t imagine) what awaits in the week ahead.

Another big difference between here and home is that there is always quite a bit of birdsong in the air all the time: morning, day, night, even up here above tree line. And there is no, or virtually no air traffic. That one helicopter, there is another off in the distance – a tour perhaps? The New Zealander pointed out the only jet trail I have seen so far at the beginning of today’s hike...obviously a large annoyance to him. What a difference to hiking in Colorado where there is air traffic constantly! One of the things that stands in my memory as an exceptional experience was the quiet in those few days after 9/11 when all air traffic was grounded. Here that is the norm. Another delightful thing about New Zealand -- no or very little air traffic.

So we came down the mountain and it is only 4:45PM. How did that happen? The loop was supposed to be 5 hours, and we went well above the loop to the top of the mountain, and we left at 5 to Noon. This is the first time we have been substantially ahead of the estimated time for the hike. (usually we are about 20% over) And we had a leisurely lunch. We decided to get a head start on the west coast trip by driving the 100 or so KM to Westport on the coast to spend the night; after all I am supposed to get on a plane in seven days. Seven days!! So much to do in seven days.

Now 100 KM seems like it would not be too far, but wait, remember the six or so ranges of mountains I saw to the west from Mt Robert? Yes, it tooks us about 2:15 to cover those 100 km! Windy, Windy roads. Many curves, steep grades (much steeper than in the US) and one lane bridges, one lane road cuts…. The sheer verticality of New Zealand is impressive. I used to think that Colorado had vertical, but New Zealand puts us to shame. Wherever I look, it is vertical. Up or down the side of the trail…seemingly any trail is a double black fall line. Up or down off the side of the road it is often sheer hundreds of feet. If there are flat valleys, there are always mountains not too far away rising to the sky.

One thing about the misty clouds that so far have dominated the weather on this trip is that it lent a good deal of mystery and drama to the landscape. But today it is a bluebird day, I can see the tops of all the mountains which is a little anticlimactic. We pass the Owen Valley and crossed the Owen River, there is of course a great dramatic view of Mt Owen at the top of the valley, but alas our batteries are dead.

Another thing is that the amount and variety of trees in this country is truly amazing. I do not know them all, and I am no expert on trees, but jeez, we got like what, three kinds of trees in CO? Evergreen, Aspen, Cottonwood (even if there are a few varieties of evergreen). But here … there are dozens of very different types of trees (and I only count evergreen once here too.)

On this ride, it just doesn’t stop. We are following this canyon, with its vertical, but oh so green, sides, and wide crystal clear river. And when I think we are going to get through it all and see the sea, no…. More mountains, mountains, mountains.

And on this main highway between Murchison and Westport there is a spot where there is a sheer cliff to the river below -- the Buller Gorge following the Buller River. They have chiseled out one narrow lane out of the cliff for about 200 meters or so that the cliff looks kind of like a mushroom in profile. That is how they did it. No blasting a hole for the two lane highway through the cliff. They just treat it as one of the many one way bridges. One way yields to the other side and if someone is already on the one lane part of the road, you just have to stop and wait until they come through. Luckily there are so few people and vehicles on the road. A little bit further on they have done it again, but this time, it is a segment that includes about 3 or 4 hairpin turns in it! There is no way to see if anyone is on-coming! Their answer is to lower the speed limit to 15 KPH figuring, I guess, that you would have enough time to stop if you drive slow, instead of having an accident.

So we make it to Westport and we find a Campground where we can have a kitchen and showers and internet. What is funny is that I have been the cook (no Phil in New Zealand). I have been preparing our nightly meals. Last night I made some yummy sausages and mashed Kumara -- a sweet potato type of root vegetable, just not as sweet as a sweet potato (phil would be proud at how much butter I put in the mashers). It was good if I say so myself. Tonight, however, I started what has been our typical evening meal of pasta, broccoli (BEM, Ange!), tuna fish in some kind of canned sauce, but tomight, Genevieve finished it, and did all the dishes too, so that I could work here on the blog on her laptop. Sweet Genevieve!

But now I have caught up on the blog, and it is 2AM (again) and I am posting and I am going to bed, for tomorrow, I try to call Qantas to change my departure so that I will have time for the “Cannot Miss” Milford Sound ferry ride. After all, Rick wont be in Thailand during my two days there before coming home, and Methet leaves after just one day. I might miss my other Thai friend, but he had a chance when I was there at the beginning. So I if I can change my ticket, I am doing it. I had hoped to do it tonight on the internet, but no I have to call the local Qantas office….Problem is a big town on the west coast has a population of 13,000. Doubt they have a Qantas office. So I gotta figure out how to call Christchurch in the AM.

So until next time

Newo out,

Mt Arthur

Title: Mt Arthur.

Aside: Most of these blog entries are in a rough draft form, please bear with that. I don’t have the time to devote too much to review and making it all purty, but I WILL when I get back to the US and I am in Texas. I will edit the blog, post descriptions on the Picasa web album pictures, and do all that kind of thing then, while suffering from the jet lag.

Anyway, after the last posting the night before in Nelson, I met a german guy named Aljosha from Berlin. He was staying at the same backpackers (a hostel) we stayed at. He was an interesting fella who could tell a good story. He had been in Bali recently too, and he shared a very funny story about his return from Bali to Sydney. He had met up with some kind Balinese who gave him a tour of their island for the price of their petrol, and then invited him to dinner. When they asked him if he liked his meals spicy, he said yes, thinking spicy in a German sort of way, which of course is not very spicy. He said he ate two of these green bean looking things and that his mouth did not stop burning for 5 days! This meal with the Indonesian locals took place on his last night on Bali, and on his return trip to Sydney, he said he threw up something like seven times on the airplane! This made the Aussie’s a little nervous that perhaps he was bringing some kind of biohazard into their country, so when his plane landed, they quarantined the WHOLE AIRPLANE! And these guys came on board in full yellow biohazard gear, and the flight attendants all pointed at him, “he’s the one.” So they checked him out, but he was ok, it was just his stomach couldn’t handle that spicy Indonesian meal.

We talked a lot into the night (he was quite the talker), and I showed him CB on Google Earth and he showed me his favorite parts of Berlin, too. He was in New Zealand on a 12 month work visa, and then was going to fly to LA giving himself seven weeks to get to and fly home from Montreal. I said, "hey stop by Crested Butte on the way, I’ve got a guest room you can stay in." He said he might, and we exchanged email addresses and he said that he would let me know, one way or the other when he got to the states. I don’t usually just offer my guest room to total strangers, but he had a good feel about him, so why not?

So we made it out of Nelson a little late, but we made it to the Flora Saddle Carpark at 930 meters above sea level (Nelson was at sea level) in about 2 and ½ hours, arriving just before the day got dark. We drove up to Motueka (where Genevieve had lived on a farm for two weeks last time she was in New Zealand milking goats and making cheese, etc.), and turned up the Motueka River Valley, then headed off the main road and climbed up an incredibly steep gravel road past green New Zealand farms with sheep. Up, up, up and into the Kahurangi National Park where we planned to hike Mt Arthur the next day. It had been raining in Nelson, but it had stopped before we left, but it was still a very grey, low hanging cloudy day. As we went up this road, we got into the cloud, and it felt like cloud, misty wet and cold. It gave everything a mysterious quality, and the ever-present birdsong….

The sounds here, coming from the bush are very interesting. They are mostly bird noises, and I have described some of them before … the pleasant bird songs from the Queen Charlotte Track hike. None of the sounds are like the screaming we heard from the forest in Ubud (a monkey Ange and I finally concluded), or the constant cock crows of Tonga or Indonesia – those were harsh sounds. Here the sounds are all harmonious, soft, pleasant to listen to, never harsh. In Flora Saddle I heard a sound that sounded like a wet fart, or like some large fluttering of big birds. Genevieve tells me that there are really large pigeons, native to New Zealand called Kereou that are like the size of a chicken or even bigger, and they make very loud whooshing noises as they fly. That is what she thought I heard, she says that they are very loud when they fly. There are so many birds here, the Tui and the Bellbird and the Weka and so on, and all together they make up the majority of the sounds we hear coming from the bush.

So we are in Flora Saddle and the cloudy mist breaks every now and then to reveal a 3/4 moon, the strange upside down moon of the southern hemisphere (which is funny because it is the first time I can look at the moon and actually see the “man in the moon” – only in the upside down moon). This is a good sign as we plan on hiking Mt Arthur tomorrow, and we are praying for a break in the weather. (As you recall from my last entry, we spent the day in Nelson while it rained and I had my back adjusted by the chiropractor.)

It is still kind of spooky here at night as we are all alone with two vacant cars in the carpark way up at 930 meters above sea level. It is cool, but not as cold as that first night when it snowed just a few hundred feet above our camping spot on the beach. Everything is wet and dripping from the light, misting rain of the day, there are big puddles in the carpark and everything is wet. I heard a big spooky noise off in the darkness of the bush, something large falling from a tree, coupled with the foreign birdsong that continues even into night. And even though I know that there are no poisonous anything, and there are no large predators here, it still gives me a small fright.

But this has been the best night so far in New Zealand, because Genevieve has finally opened up and came out of this shell that she has been in since that first night in Tonga, and started to tell me about Antarctica. She has told me more about Antarctica, tonight than she has ever told me. Special things about why she likes it there so much. All I have heard before tonight is that it is the coldest, driest, harshest place on earth, and if you look at pictures of McMurdo on the web, it looks like a town made out of airplane hangars. How can such a place be such a fascination to her? Tonight she told me revealing items about living there that made me understand why it was so special. I cannot bring myself to repeat any of the things in such a public forum as this, since I have been chastised again and again not to talk about Antarctica. Ask her yourself (if you dare) and she will tell you (if she wants to). The things she described not only made me understand why she liked it so much, but also roused enough interest that I want to go there as well. And it touched me that she felt that she could share this with me.

The next morning (November 11 – the 10^th in the US) started out very promising as sunshine peeked thru the cracks in the vanette’s curtains, so I woke up thinking good, sunshine the weather had broke. Turns out that the sun was shining in between cloud layers, one below our position that undoubtedly meant that Nelson and Motueka were still grey, and the cloud layer above us, so that by 8 AM or so, it was a grey day again. Oh well, we were here to go into the Kahurangi National Park even if barely into it. I am not sure how big this park is, but it is frickin BIG … it takes most people something like 4 -5 days to cross it by foot, and our planned day hike to the top of Mt Arthur was just barely nicking the outside edge according to the map of the park. This park map also lists something like 12 different mountain ranges within the park! Clearly, I could spend a month or so in the Nelson area and still have places to explore in Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks.

So off we start on our day hike. Now it was wet, it was really wet. It was not raining or anything, it was just a grey misty/cloudy day, but the ground was like walking on a big sponge. (It reminded me of that scene in Empire Strikes Back when they are inside the giant space worm’s stomach in the asteroid.) Every step was a squish, squish, squish. There is green everywhere – the ground is covered in moss, the trees are covered in moss, tiny ferns and tiny mushrooms. The big trees had green draped all over them. (Pictures will eventually show up in Picasa.) This hike started off great, my back felt good, if a bit sore from the adjustment, and the landscape is a feast to the eyes – very different from anything I have experienced in the US whether Colorado or the pacific northwest.

So I walk for a good hour to 90 minutes snapping pictures like mad, then I get up on the ridge and the giant beech tree green forest gives way to smaller trees that are bare except for what looks like an aloe plant on the top of them. (I’ll figure out the name of them eventually.) So I then come across snow in small patches along the side of the trail, or in a sink hole along the trail. The track is still very wet and muddy, and we are still not to the Mt Arthur Hut, which is like a 1/3, maybe half the way up the mountain. The sun is starting to come in and out in patches through the grey sky.

We get to the hut, and its time to decide what to do. Looking further up the trail (when the clouds part enough to see further up the trail) we see a mountain (not the top) that has a lot of snow on it. Two New Zealanders showed up at the bottom while we were having our breakfast. They, too, were going to climb Mt Arthur, they set off in shorts (of course – those hardy New Zealanders have been mostly wearing shorts since I have arrived – its spring doncha know), but taking with them ice picks and crampons. Then another pair of NZers show up (yes wearing shorts, of course) they came up a different path, from the Flora Hut (not at the Flora Saddle). They said that they were sure the guys ahead of us were going to need the ice picks, but probably not the crampons. On top of everything, I had left one of my made-for-my-(favorite)-pack water bottles in Nelson, and I was adamant that we return for it. (My fanny pack as anyone in CB will know is completely unbalanced with only one of these bottles.) So with all of these factors, we decided to make a loop out of the hike and go up just a little more to a false summit, take in what view we could, then go down the other track, see the Flora hut then up and back to the carpark. We figured that would take us out by 2 PM, back to Nelson by 4 PM and then make our way to Nelson Lakes National Park which is our planned hike for the next day. This suited us fine, and turned out to be a good choice. For one, we were not prepared for the snow at the summit, and for two, this would allow us to return to Nelson, but not screw up the near term schedule.

So we went up to the false summit, and our luck continues to hold, meaning on our days off, the weather sucks, when we go hiking, the weather is awesome, or in this case decent. While on this false top, the clouds did lift (mostly) and we could take in the view into the park proper. OMG! It was stunning. Miles and miles and miles of untouched wilderness, with spectacular mountains in the two directions we could see into the Park. And of course, we could only see just this one enormous area that is just the tiniest bit of this huge Park. No roads, no houses, just snow covered peaks over greeeeeen forests. We made our early lunch there and left the little peak at about 11:30PM. (Lots of pictures still to come.) I was a little emotional as I left the top, I am not sure why, I suppose the shear enormity and beauty of this place touched me. Plus I am disappointed in myself that my bone-headed forgetfulness cut short our first peak attempt. But I did resolve myself at that point to come back to NZ sometime and stay long enough to do it right! I want to explore this Park! And I want to see the Abel Tasman (where they filmed the wood elf scenes in the Lord of the Rings), which is one of the NZers favorite of all their 14 national parks. So I am putting it out there now to all y’all . . . I am targeting January and February of 2010 or 2011 for a 8 week tour with multi-night tramps (as they call it) on the South Island of NZ. Any of you wanna come, let me know. I am starting to plan for it as soon as I get back!

Starting down the route to the Flora Hut, the track was especially wet and muddy. In fact it must have been the wettest muddiest hike I have ever done. To make matters worse, the descent was STEEP through the trees, and I mean like staircase (ladder? – well at least in a few places, where I literally went backwards) steep. I am slipping and sliding down this trail, and going SLOW. At first it is funny, but soon pain replaces fun, and by the fifth or so major slip on the wet roots of the trees (hidden by a layer of last falls leaves), makes it not too much fun anymore. It is so wet that not only is the ground wet, but even if I grab what looks to be a dry part of a tree to help me keep my balance, it too is sopping wet – like a sponge. Luckily, skiing reflexes take over, and I just start to go with the slips and slides, instead of tweaking my back with each one. And also luckily, I did not fall, and I had ibuprofen on me, that all helps. And again, what looks like solid ground, is like a sponge. Sometimes I step on what looks like the most solid part of the trail only to get a sense that I am going to fall into some kind of hole, as if it wasn’t ground but quicksand (tho the deepest I ever really go is about 1 ½”). Soon enough, my boots are as grey as the muddy ground, and the bottom ¼ of my pants are a pretty good mess, too. It is really good that this trail is well marked with red triangles on the trees (it is not the wide track that most of these trails in NZ seem to be), because in many places it is hard to tell what is trail and what is plain old forest floor, even for me, accustomed as I am in picking out game trails while bushwacking (“hunting grouse”) with Kraig in CB.

Somwhere near the bottom, the sound of a helicopter invades the squeely chimes of the birdsong, and I think, “huh, a helicopter tour.” As I get toward the bottom, where the Flora hut ought to be, it is clear that the helicopter is at the hut. Just before getting to the Hut, the chopper takes off and heads away. Genevieve is waiting for me at the bottom and she tells me it is the DOC (Dept of Conservation) people who were unloading things. While I am resting after that hellish decent, the ‘copter returns, flies right over head and lands in the small amount of open space here on the valley floor next to the hut. The DOC guys unload items, load other items (and a dog), one of them gets in and heads back into the park (down the valley) from where it had just come from. (Gen took a cool video of it with her camera.) This helicopter continues to do this as we walk out, obviously ferrying supplies from the carpark to the Hut to points beyond.

We start up the trail back to the car park. By now, the cloud cover has broken completely and it is a stunning blue-bird day. We are now walking past a beautiful crystal clear stream, with the occasional small waterfall. It is like all the water I have seen in NZ – salt or fresh, it does not seem to matter – so incredibly clear, every detail of the streambed is clearly visible, as if there was no water there at all. As we walk up this road (it’s a road, although nobody but the DOC is allowed to drive on it), the moss covered sidecut is weeping with water that is draining out of the forested hill above.

On our way, a gorgeous blonde woman who also showed up while we were breakfasting, and took off into the Park on her mountain bike, came upon me. She stopped and got off her bike and started up a conversation. Seems like everywhere I go, the New Zealanders stop and talk. They genuinely seem interested and are so very polite. We pass a couple of Wekas and she asks me if I know what birds those are. I say, they are wekas, I think. She seems somewhat impressed as apparently most tourists think they are the reclusive Kiwi birds. She asks about my plans, and I tell her we are on our way to Nelson Lakes and then down the west coast. “Be sure to stop at the Pancake Rocks.” About the 20^th time I have heard that I have to stop at them, and it has long been part of the plan.

She tells me a great tale about having to sneak around the guy at the Flora Hut. Apparently there is some confusion as to mountain bikers being allowed in the park or not. She thinks that they are allowed on this road, but not allowed on any of the tracks or trails. She said that she road her bike down this road, and then hiked up to this other hut further in the park (probably about double –or more – the mileage Gen and I just did). Anyway, she confides that she hopes there aren’t any DOC guys at the carpark. I ask if she will get a ticket for having the bike. She said, “No, just a good jabbering.” Or something like that – typical Kiwi attitude. For example, there is no law (I don’t think) about having your seat belt fastened, its just you want to because then you wont die in an accident, but if you want to die, go ahead, don’t wear your seat belt. Or like the guy who we hired the vanette from (Grant): didn’t need the CC number to hold the reservation, just wanted to be sure we HAD a credit card.

Anyway, we get to the vanette about 2PM; head into Nelson; my water bottle is still at the internet place. I pick it up; we check email, and as I step outside while Gen is online, there is Aljosha across the street. I walk over and say, “hi.” And he says, “hey I thought you were leaving!” “We did, but I left this here, so we came back for it. Off to Nelson Lakes next though.” He looks a little forlorn and says, “I’ll get there too, one of these days.” Gen comes out gets to meet Aljosha who tells her another story about not being able to find a shirt that fits him in this country – something about his neck is too wide for how narrow the rest of his body is, and the shirts he finds are either ridiculously big or way too small. Gen confirms the “he’s a really good guy” feeling I had the night before, and tells him he has to stop by CB next June, we say goodbye and pick up some more groceries. As we drive between Nelson and it's bedroom community of Richmond, we get stuck in the same afternoon rush hour traffic as we did the day before! (There even is a sign by the side of the road saying, “PM Queues” as if we didn’t know we were stuck in the afternoon rush!)

We head towards Nelson Lakes, and stop at a lookout spot the DOC info office had told us about called Hope Saddle just in time for the weather to break in all directions, and we can take in a splendid evening view (sunset being about 8PM in the southern spring, with long twilight). Included in the view is Mt Owen, Mt. Arthur, the mountains around Nelson Lake, and far in the distance, some of the Southern Alps! The spot was off the highway somewhat (up a dirt road), it had a bathroom, so we decided to spend the night there…why not? We are living out of the vanette after all, and we are just 35 KM from Nelson Lakes. There is also a flat grassy area that sure looks like an inviting place to pitch a tent, AND there is no sign here telling us that we cannot camp here (many other places are very specific in their signage). The cold grey clouds rolled in during the fading twilight, and it looks like rain (or misting) again. What is very similar to home is that when the sun is out it feels hot – the blue bird hike of today was warm in a t-shirt – but when the sun goes down, or the clouds roll in, it gets cold, and fast.

Tune in next time for the Nelson Lake day…. coming up real soon.

Newo-out

Traveling from Picton to Nelson and Nelson

So we left Picton on Sunday 9 November and head for Nelson. We stopped at Cullen's Point to do a short one hour walk along the coast of the point. Again, New Zealand is never what I expect it to be. I expected this to be like the other penisula we hiked, which was flat. Instead it is down a steep inlcine, and a traverse, slightly upwards back up and around the penisula to where we parked the vanette. It is a cool and cloudy day, but not cold like it has been. I can hike in my t-shirt and not feel cold.

The little track starts out rather disapointing after yesterday's spectacular hike, but it gets better and better as we go around the point. Also, I am able to get a picture of the beetle's anus -- the hairs coming out of a tree.

I am also happy with the breakthough in the pool and the rush of the end of yesterday's hike as it helps me get through this hike. Tomorrow, monday, i will track down a chiropractor in Nelson and get my hip knocked back in place.

So the "book" Lonely Planet -- the ultimate guide book says that you can do one island or the other in two weeks, and the whole country in a month if you are rushed. They recommend 4 weeks for each island though to get the feel. What i have realized is that I could spend two weeks just in the Marlborough Sound, and probably at least a month in Nelson and still have things to do. And I still have not seen the west coast, the southern alps, and fjordland. All places that I want to see. So I realize that to do NZ right, you need like 4 - 6 months, really.

At anyrate, we arrive at Nelson and check out the DOC office to see what we can do in our two days in Abel Tasman, Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes Park. They confirm my suspicions that you need about a month at least to look at these places in anything remotely like detail, so I knock Abel Tasman off the list, and we plan for two hikes one in Karangahui and the other in Nelson Lakes. This trip will have to be a taste of New Zealand, and I resign myself to that without trying to do it all too fast.

Monday is the windy and rainy day that was forecast, so I spend the day getting the blog up and running, finding my outstanding (as it turns out) Chiropractor, thank you Dr. Sally Dawson, and I get all my photos up on the picasa site. We are off to spend the night closer to the start of tomorrow's planned mountain top hike, and I pray the weather breaks like it is supposed to do for the next two days of walking around New Zealand Mountains.

Nelson, I wont forget you, you are a very cool city of 85,000 (again it feels like a city and not a town), and if you are ever here on a budget stay at Tasman Bay Backpackers -- it is the best!

Until Next Time,

Newo Out

Hiking Queen Charlotte Sound pt 2

So a little more than half way thru and Ann and I caught up with Genevieve, and we continued together to the end of the track. Now we had seen quite a few of a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand called a weka (pronounced whack-ah). They are about the size of a house cat, with red eyes and brown body. Several had their chicks with them and they were aggressively searching for scraps from us -- even pecking at Ann's shoes and trying to get at our bags.

Just after meeting up with Gen, Ann's keen eyes picked out a black bird with a white balloon at its throat. This is a tui, another indigenous bird to New Zealand. We watched it hopping about one of the beech trees, it was searching for a bark beetle, another item we would not have noticed without Ann. These beetles are scale insects that live under the bark, and her anal tube sticks out of the tree and looks like a hair on the outside of the tree with a little blob of sugar at the end. These are the female beatles, and they use the sweet sap at the end to attract males (i think). These beetles have the longest anal tubes of any organism on the planet, and the tui and introduced wasps or bees feed on the sugary part. Ann actually tasted some, then Gen did, ... Do i dare eat something that actually comes out of a bug's butt? They did, so I felt compelled to do it too, it tastes like sugar. So yes i ate something excreted from the ass of an insect! Who would have thought that all the hairs covering the tree were actually the anal tubes of insects living under the bark.

We came across another huge native hardwood tree called a tia, Ann thought, and Ann thought it was left because it was not a strait tree, as the timber is quite excellent for building. Gen thought there was enough wood in this one tree to build a whole house, Ann thought so as well. It made us reflect having just seen the anal tubes of the beetle, of the amazing diversity in size of organisms on the planet, from the smallest single cell organisms to the mighty red wood trees and blue whales. We saw under a bunch of the bark beetle hairs, a whole group of plants called a sundew, which are insect-eaters. They get their nutrition by digesting small insects that get stuck on some sticky sweet sap the plant produces.

How wonderful it was to be walking and observing all of these natural wonders! We conclude that to not be curious about the world in which we live, people end up rushing about worrying about unimportant things, while the world passes one by. Gen's example was the bikers who have such a narrow focus on the trail, that they missed all the things Ann pointed out to us. Ann's was the loss of value of her house in the past year or so. My example was how half my stock portfolio's value disappeared while I traveled across the ocean to come on this trip. At first I was worried that one, I could no longer afford the trip I am on, and two, that I now dont have enough money to build the new house in CB next year. But here i am on this trip, and by god I am going to enjoy it while I can!

We somehow got on the subject of the Lord of the Rings movies and how they were filmed here in NZ, and I knew that some of the areas were being kept as tourist attractions. Ann knew that Hobbiton was in the middle of the north island around Hamilton, but that it was otherwise a more boring part of New Zealand, and that some of the silver beech elf forest scenes were filmed in Abel Tasman park near Nelson, where we are headed for tomorrow.

We saw a larger version of the green hood orchid later on the track, and then we saw a bell bird as well and another tui. But while we were in Endeavor Inlet and knew that it wasn't too much further to Ferneaux Lodge, we began to wonder how much further it was and the time. Ann had been on a few of these boat/hikes before and wasn't too worried about the time frame, but we had been going slowly looking at all the fascinating things Ann was pointing out, laughing and carrying on. Checking the time we found it to be 4Pm and right about then we came across a sign saying Ferneaux Lodge 25 minutes...oops.

Now, we had been quite stringently warned to be at the Lodge by 4 PM because the mail ferry had a schedule to keep, and they indicated that they would not wait very long for us. So we picked up the pace, moving quicker up the inlet. This was one of the places that there were a series of houses together. We saw one woman sitting on a bench in her yard, and asked, "is Ferneaux Lodge really 25 minutes away?" And her response was, "Well not at that pace it isn't." In the few gaps in the bush where a view to the top of the inlet was possible I had not seen our boat at any of the four or so piers, so we all felt ok, but still hurried.

Turns out we arrived at Furneaux Lodge about five or ten minutes before the ferry arrived, so had enough time to pee and sit for a second. Furneaux is very nice with idyllic manicured lawn down to the aquamarine clear waters of the Sound.

We board the ferry and head back to Picton now enjoying the incredible beauty of the Sound in afternoon sun, and head back to our little NZ trailer park/hostel for showers, dinner, and a good nights sleep!

Until next time,

Newo out.

Hiking Queen Charlotte Sound pt 1

So we boarded the cat and set off thru the crystal clear waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. It was gorgeous, simply OMG mind-blowingly gorgeous … sunny skies with a few puffy clouds … we couldn't have asked for a better day.

On the way (it was a tour boat for some, transportation for others, and mail boat on the side), our captain, a fourth generation QCS boat captain, stopped for us to see some dusky dolphins swimming in the sound and pointed out a fish farm that raised salmon, up to 100,000 fish per pen I think he said. The fish farm had a problem with seals getting in and eating lots of their crop. They with the Dept of Ag arranged for the seals to be transported 200 KM south to Kaikoura (the place we had spent our first night in the camper van -- the Vanette), and re-located there. However, the very next day, the seals had returned to the fish farm! They swam the 200 KM to get back to the easy food in one day! And they somehow knew how to get back to the same place, isnt that wild?

On the boat there were about eight who were taking the tour boat part, an English woman named Ann -- more on her later, and a group of three guys and two gals from England who were mountain biking the entire 71 km of the track, one way. They were doing this in three days with the catamaran portering their belongings between their overnight stays. There are many different places to stay along the track, including tent sites, huts, and even resort hotels, some, like Forneuax Lodge probably rate 3 or so stars in Michelin. This, it seems, is how most people experience NZ's extensive system of well developed trails in their many, very large natural parks. They call it tramping. Now going by mountain bike seems like a good idea since they can travel over a long distance in a shorter time frame, except that (as Ann would later point out on the hike) they are going so fast and focusing just on the trail, they miss many of the wonderful details of the natural beauty that we were to notice.

After about an hour and a half sail, we arrived in Ship's Cove and our hike began. There is a memorial to Captain Cook who discovered New Zealand at the bottom at Ship's Cove. The hike started on a very steep uphill to a saddle in between Ship's Cove and Resolution Bay, then it wound around Resolution Bay and cut over to Endeavor Inlet, where we were picked up by the same catamaran at Fernaux Lodge, a total distance of about 15 KM. It was a good thing that it was a steep beginning as steep climbs help me get into good positioning with my back. Plus with the breakthrough in the pool in Thailand, when I concentrate I can feel myself utilizing the gluteous without using my hyperactive pirformis muscle, but it takes quite a bit of focus as my pirformis has been working for my gluts for so long. I also know that I am working properly as the pain decreases, and I can feel the correct stomach muscles working as well.


Anyway, the landscape is wonderfully beautiful -- stunning, easily matching or exceeding the stories of how insanely beautiful I have always heard New Zealand to be from others. There are large fern trees along with beech and evergreen as well as many other native species of tree I have never seen before. It is lush and very densely green, and the Sound as I mentioned before is clear, gorgeous green to aquamarine to brilliant blue water. (There will be TONS of pictures on picasa before too much longer!) And as I have noticed so far everywhere in New Zealand -- it is very scarcely populated. When it is rural here, it is very rural. For example there are homes -- little cabins, some of which are super nice – along the Sound, but not many. They are probably mostly if not entirely accessed by boat, sometimes they come in clusters of maybe six or twelve, sometimes they are solitary. There are whole “towns” that make the country map of New Zealand that consist of maybe a dozen or two homes and little else.

The track on this first bit is muddy and slippery -- a brown clay -- and it has been raining quite a bit, the previous few days. However, there are the footfalls of those who come before that make nice steps in the steep climb. Also the steepness underscores that I am at (or near) sea level as at home a trail up a mountain this steep would be about eight steps up followed by about a 30 second break just to breathe. Here however, I can just keep on trudging up to the top. Plus being at sea level, the landscape is obviously wet -- there are ferns and green moss over everything. And the smells, the air is humid and alive -- rich with oxygen with all the greenery around.

I expected New Zealand to be similar to the Pacific Northwest or maybe like the mountains of colorado, but this part is nothing like home not dry nor dusty at all. There are many varieties of plants I have never seen before and even the evergreen trees have a different shape than the trees of the US -- they are more fuller, almost bushy here. About the only thing that is the same as the northwest is the amount of humidity in the air, and the emerald green quality of the flora. No, New Zealand is distinctly its own, and it is amazingly beautiful. So far, on a per square kilometer basis, this has to be the most beautiful country on the entire planet; i don't think i have passed thru any part of this country that does not have some strikingly beautiful natural characteristic.

And the sounds (not the water, but the noises) ... the landscape is quite vertical, so there is the sound of falling water every so often. And the bird calls are very melodious ... one sounds like a penny whistle as Genevieve calls it, and the variety of different bird song is amazing. The personal logs of the sailors under Cook's command noted that the songbirds here where most pleasing to the ear, and I have to say that I agree. (Quite unlike the screams of monkeys in Indonesia, or the constant cock-a-doodle-dos of roosters interrupting the peace of Tonga.)

I understand that there are no native mammals in New Zealand, so a lot of that eco-niche was filled with many species of exotic bird, and with introduced birds, the birdsong in the bush is naturally quite varied. If you see me in person, I am keeping (probably forever) a sample of the sounds from Ship's Cove on my digital voice recorder. Plus I took a video on the camera that captures some of the sounds.

The track itself is quite wide however, two people can easily walk side by side -- about as wide as a bicycle path in a park in the US eg the bike path from CB to Mt CB or the Rio Grande Trail in Aspen, the trail in Cole Park in Corpus, etc.

The topography of the Sound is very much like the mountains of home in terms of heights and vertical climb of mountains above sea level to heights and vertical climbs of mountains above the valley floors, except that here it meets the sea with dense, lush greenery – bush they call it -- not tropical, but very green. And the view into the distance is amazing, I am not sure if my pictures will capture the ridgeline after ridgeline after ridgeline that one can actually see while on this hike or cruising the Sound. For example from various vantages up this first hill (and there is a picture of it) one can see the North Island in the distance.

And the waters that I have seen so far are all so clear. The sea water is clear (we can see the dusky dolphins as they are swimming under water, under our boat), the boats look like they are floating on air versus water, it is that clear...one can easily see for dozens of meters into the sea. And the surface waters are soooo clear as well, streams look clean enough to drink, more so than in Colorado, or so it seems to me on this hike.

So we are given time estimates for how long to take on this hike, and we have found so far that unlike the US where time estimates on hikes are geared to the very slow pace of fat, lazy americans (I can pretty much do any hike in any US National Park in about half the time estimate), here it is geared to active, fit New Zealanders. So when they say, one hour, it takes me at least one hour. We are given five hours to hike this 15 KM bit of the track, and while we did lolly gag a little -- i took a bazillion pictures, for example, and with Ann -- still too come -- we did slow down and look at a lot of stuff, we ended up arriving about 25 minutes behind schedule. But we didnt take very many long breaks. Lunch was rather rushed, and after lunch we were always well behind the time frames in the rare sign.

So, I have mentioned Ann, and now I need to talk about her. On the boat, she is just one of the other passengers, however on the track, I started to walk with her somewhere in the Resolution Bay part or about a third or so into the hike. She is a conservationist from the southwest of England -- around Bath. Her job entails trying to convince governments that they should be conserving their natural resources -- an uphill and frustrating battle it seems. She explains that she is constantly having to connect it to economic terms. For example, flooding is an expensive proposition in terms of the loss of property values, the costs of re-building after floods, etc, as Katrina aptly demonstrates. However, maintaining and restoring natural wetlands are a natural form of flood control and are infinitely more cost-effective than building and maintaining dykes, dams or runoff structures, etc.

Now Ann's expertise is on English natural forms and processes -- flora and fauna of England, but she is an intelligent and curious human being so she has naturally learned quite a bit about New Zealand's unique flora and fauna. She pointed out four different species of orchid for example (two of which I would have thought was just some grass -- both called "green-hooded" orchid), four or so species of fern (silver fern, the national fern of New Zealand -- the back side is silvery -- "ponga" or saithea taepotha (she knew the latin/scientific names) or, momuka or fekia something or another, with the black scales and the fronds all curled up like a shepard's crook, and bilmy ferns -- itty bitty ones, are one cell thick, so you could see your finger through them), two species of native tree -- long droopy leaves is a Remu, , and two species of beech. So tramping along with her was a delightful learning experience. And her enthusiasm for finding and pointing out these items was infectious, and made the hike so much more than simply enjoying the natural beauty. And she is a fellow swimmer, too.

We also had interesting conversations like the politics of Obama and the hope he represents for people all over the world. Again Obama so far has been universally desired by non-American citizens, even by the New Zealanders who just changed from Labour to a more conservative party simply because change is desired .... or the Lady at the campervan park in Picton who thought Obama will be an American President who can actually lead the world, as opposed to our current president whom did not seem to care a fig about what anyone else in the world thought....

ASIDE: Universally among non-Americans they dislike Bush and the Iraq War, and I have only come across one couple -- an American and his wife who had lived in the middle east, Iran under the shaw, who felt otherwise. They were on my flight to Tonga and they felt with some relevant experience that Bush's extreme reaction was necessary to keep the Arabs in line, and credited that with the fact that there has not been another major terrorist attack against America or Americans -- the other targets have been British -- the tube bombings in London, and Australians -- the nightclub in Bali.

She had taught in an Iranian school and somehow, the kids all got the same grade on the first several tests, all high As. How did they cheat like that? She wondered. And when she made it so that they couldn't cheat, she came under pressure from the school, from the parents, from the government to let the well connected students who actually failed get a passing grade. They both attached this scenario with other experiences they had living in Iran to a cultural trait of the arab world in general. That if you let them get away with shit, if you appease them too much (as they fear Obama will, but he seems like he would be hawkish enough to me) then the Arab world will take and take and take. So Bush at least slapped them hard enough to know that they better not screw around with us Americans because we will fuck you up! I don’t know many other people, with the notable exception of several close friends and business associates in Texas who think that W was a very good president at all. Perhaps or perhaps not.... it is all history now, and history will decide hindsight being 20/20 after all. As Stan Lee would say, 'Nuff Said, so... ASIDE OVER --

Back to Ann and I, we had conversations about the future of the world. She pointed out that the earth is expected to continue as a living planet for about another 4 and 1/2 billion years or so, but that we as a species are not likely to last very long considering a universal scale. Homo sapiens as a species after all is very, very young compared to other species on the planet, and we are in the midst of one of the largest extinction events the planet has ever seen. So it is not likely that we will last much longer. She agreed with my point of view that we will quickly make this planet uninhabitable for mammals, but then the insects will take over, and that is simply the natural order of things.

So in between her pointing out this or that plant or bird or whatever, we talked about how humans are currently fighting over oil, but soon we will be fighting over fresh water supplies, after that we will fight over clean productive farm land, and then we will fight about regular old land simply for space as there will be environmental refugees from rising sea levels, etc.. So she is predicting that the 21st century will be one of strife as everyone in the world (Asians, Africans) strive to obtain a western lifestyle.

So another interesting factoid is that these collection of Sounds known collectively as the Marlborough Sounds (all created by erosion versus glaciers) in this, the small northeast corner of the South Island, accounts for 20% of all the coastline of the entire country. This is because of how the shoreline is so convoluted, and there are many islands, etc. I bought a map, which i will take home, so anyone who sees me can look at that too.

At the overlook coming over the rise, our first look into Endeavour Inlet, we caught up with Genevieve, and after that the three of us continued on over the last 1/2 of the hike.

But now it is late and i am tired and must sleep before starting tomorrow's adventure.

So until next time,

Newo Out.

Picton -- Queen Charlote's Sound

So we arrived at Picton a mere 30 minutes after we left Blenheim, and again, New Zealand surprises. I expected Picton to be like the ferry terminal on Lombok, simply because it is the ferry terminus connecting the South and North Islands... industrial, not very nice, an inexpensive place. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Picton is in an idyllic setting, a quaint picture perfect little tourist town nestled along the steep green hills of New Zealand abutting the crystal clear green and blue waters of Queen Charlotte's Sound. The place is perhaps the size of Crested Butte, and obviouisly chosen as the ferry terminus for its protected, if small, harbor. And the wealth associated with the area is evident with the many fine, and some quite large yachts in the small slip area. There was also a very fancy small floatplane with a single engine above a Star Trek starship-like sleek body.

Once here, we scouted out the place. We were too late to check with the local DOC/info office to see about hiking opportunities, but again the friendliness of the local populace showed itself as a New Zealander suggested a ride on the mail boat around the Sound to get a nice tour of its natural features. We checked in with one of the local boat charters concerning this and also were informed as to the possibility of taking a boat to do the far section of the four day Queen Charlotte Sound Track, with a same afternoon pick-up. We decided to do that the next day and went in search of a place to spend the night in our little camper van.

We had such luck finding a free spot in the previous spot Kaikoura, that we tried an Irish pub to see if the locals could tell us of a good spot to go. (There are not many places to park the van for free as tourists have been abusing the New Zealand landscape for some years, and signage is quite clear where it is not permitted to simply park and sleep on the side of the road.) They told us there were very few (the charter people had said their are none, with a bit of a nose in the air attitude), and suggested one about 8 KM outside of town that had a great view of the Sound, "Don't go to the bottom carpark, but you can park on the upper one."

We went out of town along a winding road, and came to the obvious point they had described. Sure enought the off- the highway (if you can call it a highway, more like a paved country road) spot had a lovely picknick table and the "No Campervan Parking or Camping" sign. The upper spot was simply a pull-off on the road. We considered it for a while as we watched a glorious sunset, but ruled it out as completely inappropriate. There were several very fine houses whose driveway was basically the road down to the nice lower spot, and one just across the road that overlooked this little pull-out.

We decided to bite the bullet and pay the fee to spend the night in the Town's modest campervan and camping park. It turned out to be a good move and we stayed here for two nights, as we had access to showers, laundry, and a lounge/kitchen area with refrigerator -- think the CB hostel room pared down a bit, and you've got it. This way we could spend the next day on our boat ride/15 KM day hike of the track, come home to a shower and nice spacious place to enjoy our dinner. And it did turn out that lovely.

The first morning we awoke to a gorgeous crystal clear sunny day, had our breakfast, packed our day packs for the hike, and walked the short distance to the ferry boat terminal/waterfront of the Town and got on our very nice powered catamaran touring boat/mail boat and wisked off into the incredibly beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound to our wonderous day hike. As we waited to depart, I asked one of the charter crew if they knew if the weather would hold for the day. He informed me that it is supposed to be nice all this weekend, but that it was going to turn again on Monday, and added in the charming NZ way, "you cracked it."

I will tell you about the truly awesome hike next post.

Until then, Newo-out

New Zealand by Camper Van Day 1

So we got our camper van, we bought some groceries, we picked up the rest of Gen's items at the American Antartic Center, and off we go. Our first night's goal is Picton and Queen Charlotte Sound. WE dont make it... but not because of anything bad, but because it is just soo good!

The road is very western. It is nothing like driving around in Thailand or Indonesia. There are rules of the road that people observe. There are speed limits that people observe. People stay in their lanes, the lane lines mean this is a lane, there aren't scooters and motorcycles cutting around traffic. Hell, there aint much traffic! The landscape is sort of a mix of europe -- small fields filled with sheep or cows or goats or deer defined by hedge rows, or nice neat lines of trees. in other words, manicured countryside -- and America -- not very populated, low homes that are similar to rural american homes, etc.

We started up the highway traveling up the Canterbury plain -- mountains on the left, sea to the right, and I am snapping pictures of the mountains (still covered in a good amount of snow-- they look like the mountains of home). It is all very spring green, and unlike the regimented 12 hour day in the tropics, the days are long -- it is spring.

After a while, I am like, lets go look at the coast. So we take a detour down a "tourist drive" to "Gore's Bay" Now if I want to retire in New Zealand this would be a good choice. The mountains come right down to the coast, and the town is teeny tiny -- makes CB look like a sprawling metropolis. Above the town we passed an inviting gateway that said "Ëlliot's Garden" we go in and it looks like someone's private home (and a super nice home it is with gorgeous views of the pacific from up high on the hill), but there is a box with a slot in it with a sign, "donations welcome". It looks to be about 3 acres or so in size above the bluff/cliff to the sea, but who knows how far down the cliff it goes -- it is hundreds of feet above the ocean, yet right on the coast.

Quite a bit of the three acres is a steep sided, wide bottom gulley planted with the most beautiful flowering plants, trees, short cropped grasses, etc., with a bog/retained water feature or two. It is idyllic, the birds are singing merrily, a well groomed long haired cat comes up and welcomes us. It is nice to get out of the car and enjoy this quiet garden -- I have never seen an "english garden" but i imagine that this is what it is like. This is what I was wanting... out of the city, beautiful pastoral setting, the scent of flowers in bloom, peace, relaxation -- nice. We leave a donation and a note, and continue on.

Later we take another detour off the main highway to Claverly, and it is not so scenic. Claverly show as another town on the map, but it consists of about 9 houses along the coast, along with some farms on a rather flatter portion of the coast.

We then get to Kaikoura and stop in South bay and we get out of the car and take a little walk out this peninsula to a place that one might see (and Gen's friends had seen a few days earlier) sperm whales, dolphins, seals, etc. We see seals, red-billed gulls, cows (there are farms that we cross on this walk on the peninsula), but no whales. There is a great breeze (gale?) coming off the sea and it is cold and grey. It is cold, the windchill is a big factor. I am wearing basically every layer I brought, including rain gear. It does indeed rain on us, and even hail. But not too hard, and we get back to the car about 2 hours after we left it. We then drove around to the other side to the town proper -- about 3500 residents, and have a splendidly good seafood meal. Wondering if we should go back to the campground we passed or if there is another place to park our minivan (we were a little worried about protocol as Trudy had warned about campervan tourists who stay in the wrong places, dumping their greywater tanks just wherever, and peeing all over peoples front yards, etc. -- so we were wondering what to do). Anyway, I decide to ask the wait staff at the restaurant if there was another place we can park overnight up the coast since that is the way we are heading. they recomend a place to turn off on a "sandy beach"about 20 KM north and we can get off the highway and have the sea, and etc. We went about 20 KM and backtracked a little until we did happen upon the place they must have been talking about. We only found it because it is the only place on the road where the sea wasn't just right on the highway, and we could drive back aways to a spot. We pass another campervan and a tent, so we know this is going to be Kosher. The piece de la resistance is an outhouse, and we know this has to be the place.

We set ourselves up for the night, and bang it storms on us. It rains off and on overnight, but morning is gorgeous. The mountains are very close and there is new snow on them just a few hundred vertical feet above sea level... it all melts off in the morning sunshine. We are having our breakfast while a group of four guys in their 20s or 30s pull up and get this . . . go surfing! Here i am wishing i had brought long underwear and these Kiwis are surfing in the 3 - 4 foot surf! granted with wetsuits, but still, they are jumping up and down to get warm before going in and running down the beach i am sure to stay warm before getting into what must be pretty damn near ice cold water. These Kiwis are frickin crazy! They are all very good surfers, and we finish our breakfast, and pack up the van while watching them surf.

We are now still heading for Pitcon, and have stopped in Blenheim where I am now pretty caught up on pictures and blog... so maybe we make Picton for tonight, and then tomorrow?????

until next time

Newo out.