Zonaland!

Greetings from Hokatiki (I think that is where we are).  Everything is closed today because the date here is December 26, Boxing Day.
 
We had a nice Christmas in Okarito yesterday.  Okarito has a population of 35 people.  It is on the northwest coast of NZ and is kind of a rainy place.  But anyway, when we arrived some people went kayaking while others of us settled into our "room."  We had a little cottage reminiscent of Guerneville (Russian River).  It was an interesting cottage because not only is it called the "Love Shack," apparently it is haunted by an old lady ghost.  We didn't meet her, however. 
 
Anyway, after spending Christmas Eve in the Love Shack, we woke up on Christmas morning and went for an excellent hike to, of course, Christmas Lookout.  It was a fun hike with uphill in the forrest with tons of ferns.  When we got to the Lookout, we had a good view of Franz Josef Glacier.  We hiked down singing Christmas carols.  Anyway, Doug and I tried but we couldn't figure out the twelve days of Christmas -- especially after we got past nine ladies dancing.  After we hiked down, we got into the bus and went over to hike towards the glacier itself.  It was really pretty amazing.  We got close but did not go on the glacier, mostly because we did not have ice axes or crampons with us.  Wow, what an incredible thing that galcier is!!!!  It is really amazing that in Okarito the town looks out onto the ocean but also has the glacier in the background.
 
We returned to our accommodations and had turkeys with everyone.  It was a delicious meal, especially as we were hungry from the hike.
 
Today we are going to some other destination and tomorrow we start a three day kayak trip. 
 
Look forward to seeing you all in the new year and hope you have a nice Christmas today.

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We just arrived in Queenstown for a free day. Not really free but we will be here just the same. Queenstown is a bit like a giant mall in a beautiful setting.  Situated near a massive lake in beautiful mountains one can spend a life's savings on trinkets and "extreme" tourist adventures.  Imagine walking down the street and having everything scream out at you, "TOURIST!!!" -- that pretty much sums up Queenstown even though the surrounding area is beautiful.

We continue to be vigilant in our hobbit search, to no avail so far. Fortunately, no orc signtings.  Phew!

We just got back from Milford Sound which has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The sound has huge mountains rising straight out of the bay, about 5000 feet high. Very amazing. More on Milford Sound in a moment. 

On our way to Milford Sound, we took a hike up one of the huge mountains around here. All of the mountains are huge and are on a grand scale. It is really something to see them -- so many with snow on them, glaciers in the background and waterfalls everywhere. There is tons of water here!  Streams are everywhere and you can drink from most of the streams. We think this is because they have hardly any animals here that would contribute to a giardia problem.  The views keep getting better with each elevation.  From the bottom, you can see a tall mountain with various waterfalls.  Once on top you get to see not only the waterfalls but the "hanging lakes" that create the waterfalls, about 4000 or so feet up.  The water is either deep blue green or light blue.  Really beautiful stuff here!

On our hike we managed to see an owl in a tree.  It was sleeping (or trying to).  It was a cute owl -- hopefully our pictures will come out.  They are kind of hard to see.

Anyway, after taking in amazing views (again) from our hike, we took a bike ride down a road through mountains and glaciers. It was sort of a sissy ride, mostly downhill, but it was beautiful. It is a bit odd to be on the "wrong" side of the road here.

We spent last night at a lodge in Milford Sound. Milford Sound, as it turns out, is the breeding ground for sand flies. Sand flies are more aggressive and more numerous than mosquitoes anywhere we've been -- ever.  So we had to load up on the bug spray and still were bitten 500 times in 5 minutes.

Our group had pizza at the local pub (there was only one) and we were served by someone named Heather who turned out to be from California!

We woke up early yesterday morning to take a kayak trip on Milford Sound. Wow!  It was incredible. The water was like glass when we started. It was very calm and we were able to paddle out into the sound. The sound is actually a fjord and is in the Fiordland National Park here. The mountains surrounding the sound are at least 5000 feet tall. in the background are glaciers and, of course, all the waterfalls from melting snow everywhere.

In case anyone is wondering, we did not go swimming.  The water here is really cold. 

While we were paddling we saw two blue penguins. They're not actually bluefrom a distance -- I think that is just their name. Anyway, they were sqwaking and generally carrying on by some rocks on shore.  Apparently they are one of the rarest penguins to se. They have all kinds of interesting habits like laying two eggs instead of one. Apparently they have a small chick and a large chick. They wait to make sure the large chick is surviving and then starve the other one. Nice!

THEN we saw a huge pod of bottle nose dolphin. They were incredibly playful, swimming around our kayaks and diving under us. Apparently the bottle nose dolphins here are a bit bigger than other dolphins because it is colder here (Antartica and glaciers being very close by). I think there were about 25 dolphins -- some babies in the group.  It was really amazing.

Our guide said he hadn't seen so many dolphins in about a month. The dolphins hitched a ride with some cruise boats leaving the sound.

One of the many waterfalls we saw was three times taller than Niagara Falls. It didn't look like much though because all the mountains are so tall. We do think we're getting a bit jaded by all the amazing mountains and glaciers here.

Meanwhile, the wind really picked up. By the time we began to head back, we were in white cap- type of waves. how refreshing do you imagine glacial water is on your face?  Well, we hadn't had any coffee so that splash situation (there were quite a few of them) really woke us up.

The kayak trip was one of the highlights so far.  We will be heading to a place to meet up with another group.  Apparently there will be a karaoke contest there so stay tuned.

Our group is mostly Californians, if you can believe that -- and we all come from the Bay Area.  Three others are from San Francisco. The non-Californians include a guy who lives in Alaska (but who is originally from CA), a couple from South Dakota and a couple from near Brighton, England.

Oh, BTW, we did not feel the earthquake at all. They claim NZ is known as the shaky isles and the south island has 20-30 quakes a day but we don't notice anything though we understand some buildings were destroyed.

Still working on getting the pictures posted but that may take a while yet.  We will probably have to edit this blog as we can't remember everything without the pictures.

try this link to some pictures  here

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We are in Te Anau home of the famous Takahe bird named Alpine. We are being dragged off to ride bikes with the tourists.

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Happy B-day ADAM!

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This place is awesome! 
 
We just arrived in Christchurch, located on the south island.  Last week we were on the north island, starting in Auckland.  We've been touring the countryside, looking at a lot of sheep!  It really is beautiful here and very green.  We had an opportunity to check out some Maori culture -- the Maori are the semi-indigenous people here.  They originally came from Polynesia just like the Hawaiians.  Anyway, it turns out they used to eat people.  So you can imagine our relief when we were shown the dinner being prepared and found chicken and potatoes on the menu.  The traditional tattoo process for Maoris involved three chisels -- one to open the skin, another to keep it open a week later and then a third chisel applied the ink after that.  The ancient Maori men had tattoos all over their faces, butts and legs.  The women had tattoos on their lips and chin.  Very interesting but not quite interesting enough to convince us to do it.  We do still have two weeks here so who knows how that will turn out. 
 
We had a fun group of people on our first tour -- 12 of us plus two kiwi guides.  There were really nice people and we all got along really well.  We were all Americans except for one Aussie woman.  The Texans in the group delighted in telling her Texan phrases like, "Y'all, my dogs are barkin'" which, loosely translated, means "my feet hurt."  The two Texans will be on our trip on the south island, I think.  One of our guides is a police officer in the non-tourist season.  The other guide works in Japan managing a bungy company the other half of the year.  The bungy jumper is part Maori and has qutie a few tattoos i\on his arms representing traditional Maori gods, etc.
 
Our next tour starts tomorrow -- it is a two week tour through the south island.  I think our first night's room is at a sheep farm.  We were going to be kayaking a bit more now that we are south.  Apparently the south island is where the real nature stuff starts.

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We went on a "blackwater" rafting trip which meant we were in wet suits with innertubes riding on a river underground in caves.  Though it sounds claustrophobic, it was actually kind of fun.  We had headlights but a few times we had to turn them off so we could see glow worms on the ceiling.  They glow in this kind of green color.  Very strange -- it looks like you are looking at stars! 

http://www.waitomo.com/ruakuri-cave.aspx

Waitomo, in the central North Island, is an area renowned for limestone caves, glow-worms, adventure and fun, and is a place not to be missed. The name Waitomo comes from the Maori wai, water and tomo, hole or shaft. Activities centre around a small village called Waitomo Caves (or simply Waitomo) where the Museum of Caves is the focal point.

For more than 100 years the Glow-worm Cave of Waitomo has attracted millions of people from all over the world. The Glow Worm, a small glowing insect no bigger than an average mosquito, has fascinated and intrigued people from all walks of life. The walk-through guided tours of the Glowworm and Aranui caves may seem tame in comparison to the adventure caving trips, but are still well worth doing to see the exceptional beauty of these caves.

Glowworms are the larval stage in the life of an insect called the fungus gnat. Although they are most spectacular in caves, glowworms are also quite common outside - they can be found wherever conditions are damp, food is in good supply and there is an overhanging wall. The scientific name of the New Zealand species is Arachnocampa luminosa. Similar glow-worms can be found in the south-east of Australia.  Most spectacular in caves, glowworms are also quite common outside - they can be found wherever conditions are damp, food is in good supply and there is an overhanging wall. The scientific name of the New Zealand species is Arachnocampa luminosa. Similar glow-worms can be found in the south-east of Australia.  The New Zealand glow-worm is one of many creatures that naturally produce light (bioluminescence). The light is the result of a chemical reaction that involves several components: LUCIFERIN, a waste product; LUCIFERASE, the enzyme that acts upon luciferin; ATP, adenosine triphosphate, the energy molecule; and oxygen. These combined form an electronically excited product capable of emitting a blue-green light.

The light is used to attract insects, brought into the cave in the rivers, which the glowworm catches and eats. If a glowworm is hungry its light will shine a little brighter and is even more effective. When the female glowworm reaches the adult stage the light is used to attract males for mating.

 

 

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We woke up early to have breakfast and get ourselves ready for our adventure on the north island.  We met our group in a hotel lobby.  Shortly thereafter, we met our very excellent guides, Paul and Cam.  It became clear immediately that Paul was the Clever One and Cam was the Good Looking One.  Anyway, that is how they referred to themselves.

We were divided into two vans of 6 each and a guide.  Our first stop was a crater in Auckland that previously served as a volcano and later as a storage spot for Maori food.  At the moment, it is a park, with cows wandering around in the background.  While the weather was not perfect, we still had some good views.

We then left to go to our first hiking spot.  On the way, we stopped off at a farm where we had scones and coffee.  We then wandered around and noticed an ingenious lawnmower.  We also had a chance to meet the farm animals, including a baby horse.
 
Then it was back into our van and off to Karangahake Gorge.  We walked along an old mining trail, going through old railroad tunnels.
 
Next we hit Orokawa Beach.  The town was a beach town but shockingly, and unlike beach towns in the US, NO ONE WAS THERE.  There are just no people in NZ.  It is really wonderful!  Anyway, we had lunch in the park across from the beach and then hiked on to another beach.  We saw lots of bottle brush trees that were in bloom along the way.  The weather was a little on the cloudy side so we weren't so eager to leap into the ocean.  But it was really beautiful.
 
Later we arrived at our lodging and then headed into town to the Fat Dog Cafe for dinner.  We were pleased to begin our sampling of local wines.

Click here for pics. 

 

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Day 1:  Our Arrival
 
Okay, so it is a little surreal to leave on December 8 and arrive in Aukland on December 10.  We just skipped December 9th this year altogether.  And, on the way home we had two January 4ths.  But I digress.
 
We arrived at 5 a.m. a bit groggy but excited about our adventure in the land of the kiwi.  After a cab ride, we arrived at our hotel which happily had our room ready, even at 6:30 a.m.  We took a walk around the downtown area and had breakfast.  Auckland is a pretty mellow city, even if it is the nerve center of corporate activity in New Zealand.  Fortunately, we were able to learn that the city retains some edginess:  around the corner from our hotel we found a homeless shelter of some sort, complete with pitbulls tied to nearby trees.  Of course, living so close to GG Park, we immediately felt at home. 
 
We walked to the Auckland museum through a nearby park area.  The museum is chock full of information and exhibits, especially on Maori culture.  In fact, it was a bit overwhelming.  But we were able to learn all about the NZ flora and fauna, past and present, including the Moa bird.  Apparently the Maori hunted it to extinction; however, before its demise, the Moa was 9 feet tall and had no wings.  The coolest exhibit we found was the "what-would-happen-if-the-volcano-in-the-middle-of-Auckland-Harbor-were-to-errupt" exhibit.  We sat in a pseudo livingroom with a large "window" onto the "harbor" and a tv with "news" on.  We watched as the volcano errupted and blacked out everything, the room shook, the news turned off and everything went black.  Then it "cleared" up and we were able to see what the harbor would look like after an erruption.  It was pretty cool.
 
We saw the local arboretum which was tiny but cute.  Then we had dinner and went to bed, dreaming of hobbits and orcs.

to see some pics click here 

 

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It is a long flight but it could be fun

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