New Zealand Part 2: Doubtful Sound and Drive to Milford (Feb 7-9)

Today we woke up early, excited to start our sea kayaking trip to Doubtful Sound. At 6:15 Lindsay and I hopped on the minibus with our chipper guide Jeremy and headed out of Te Anu. After picking up a couple of other folks (there were 8 of us total), we drove to Lake Manapouri and boarded a ferry to cross the lake. It was a bit overcast and the weather report called for rain, so on the other side of the lake we all geared up in our wetsuits and rain jackets. From there we traveled by van over the mountain to get to Doubtful Sound, the largest fiord/fjord in Fiordland NZ. On the way we stopped to take pictures and were fortunate to see a tree filled with alpine parrots known as Keas. By the time we had hauled the kayaks down to the water, the clouds had parted and the sun was shining. The water was like glass.

Over the next few hours we had a great time paddling around exploring the area. We had some great people on our trip, including our guide Jeremy's mother and aunt. We stopped for a lunch of PB & J on a secluded beach. I shared my left over smoked salmon with the others, which was quite a hit. After lunch the wind picked up and we busted out a couple sails to rig onto the kayaks. Yes, sails on kayaks! We brought two kayaks together, and tied some fabric to the paddles. By lifting the paddles in the air to function as masts, we started sailing down the fiord. Although it was fun, I almost staged a mutiny since the "captain" of our little boat caused us to lose the race against the others. As the sun sunk behind the 1100m cliffs, we pulled into camp for the night. That is when the horror began.

Many people know of the beauty of Fiordland in New Zealand. We have all seen idyllic pictures of Milford Sound with its majestic cliffs, tranquil aquamarine waters and dense, lush forests. What most people don't know is that living among these natural wonders is the world's most awful, intolerable insect, the sand fly (AKA the black fly). While paddling away from shore we encountered the occasional annoying fly, but as we pulled into our campsite, all hell broke loose. As Karl Sagan would say, billions and billions of these little bastards (all female by the way) descended on us looking for a little blood. Soon they were in our ears, eyes, noses and mouths. Every exposed area of skin was on the menu. Bug spray you say? I could hear their collective laughter as we applied the DEET. The Maori have a legend about these flying nightmares. Apparently the landscape was so beautiful that the Maori would just stand and look at it forever, so some goddess created the sand fly to keep them moving.

We awkwardly transported the kayaks from the water's edge to camp and set up our tents as quickly as possible. Once that was done we ran down to the water, took a quick, icy dip and changed for the evening. Then as soon as possible we made our way to the central bug shelter in the middle of camp where we would have dinner and a brief respite from the hoards buzzing outside. We had a nice freeze dried meal of chicken tikka masala and chatted it up with the others.

The next morning we were up at 6:30 and back on the water by 8. Again the fiord was like glass, and as we made our way to the middle of the sound, the dull hum of the sand flies died off. Thirty minutes later we saw a small spray of mist off in the distance. Soon we were following the resident pod of bottle nosed dolphins around the sound. It was quite a thrill, and there was even a calf playing around in the water. After a few more hours of paddling on another beautiful day, we got back to land, packed up the kayaks and made our way back to Te Anu.

As Lindsay was preparing to shower back at the holiday park where we were staying, I looked at her and thought she had contracted chicken pox. The number of sand fly bites were unfathomable. Once we cleaned up we had a drink (Roaring Megs/Dogpoint Sauvignon Blanc) and then dinner at the Redcliff restaurant in Te Anu. We had a bucket of mussels and clams, followed by a braised pork dish with sauerkraut and a barley risotto. It was wonderful, and we even ran into Jeremy, his mom Vivian, and his aunt Chris there. The highlight of the evening was when we found out that Gandolf, Frodo and a few others from Lord of the Rings ate there back during the filming.

Another highlight was when we overhead two German tourists at the table next to us becoming confused when the waiter brought over the dish they had ordered, the Tarakihi (a fish, pronounced tear-a-key), which they had accidentally thought was turkey. The evening ended with a cold and moderately tipsy Lindsay jogging down the street trying to get warm on our way back to the holiday park.

The next day was a work day for Lindsay, so I took the car and drove to Milford sound. I made a quick stop at Miles Pies for a killer bacon egg and cheese pie and medium flat white. I took my time during the 2 hour drive to the sound, stopping to take pictures and do a little hiking. At the sound, the weather was nice so I had a coffee and took some photos. On my way back I visited a few waterfalls, one of which I fell into. I also did a 2 hour hike up the beginning of the Routeburn Track, and stopped at the Mirror Lakes where I think they filled the swamp scene of Lord of the Rings. That evening Lindsay and I grilled sausages and onions at the holiday park's BBQ and had a nice conversation with a couple of old miserly Brits, who were kind enough to give us some of their delicious chips. That evening we packed for the big 4 day hike on the Milford Track.

New Zealand Part 1: Mount Cook and Te Anau (Feb 4-6)

A side note: We've added the last few blogs about our adventures in January, which are all back-dated, so you'll have to scroll down to check them out....

Now for our New Zealand adventures:

Our journey started with an evening flight on Thursday February 4th to Brisbane and another glorious night in the Formule 1 ghetto motel. We decided to go to Brisbane the night before our crossing of the Tasman Sea so that we could catch the early flight to NZ, putting us in at 2:30 PM (the alternative was getting in at midnight). Friday morning we awoke early and took a cab to the airport. Soon we were flying and three hours later we could see the Southern Alps covered in snow in the distance. We landed in Christchurch and with minimal hassle passed customs and picked up our rental car (the "Supa Saloon"). We had only 17 days total to see this bifurcated country, so we had made the decision to limit ourselves to the South Island so as not to be too rushed.

We began our drive heading south. We drove through fields and farms and small towns en route to our final destination Glentaner, situated at the bast of Mt. Cook. As usual, the drive was both beautiful but also significantly longer than expected. The trip did speed up when I figured out how to turn the car's overdive on, thereby allowing us to drive the car at less than 6,000 RPMs. That was nice and saved us heaps of gas. As we turned off the highway onto the final stretch to Glentaner, we passed Lake Pukaki, a beautiful blue glacial lake. Off in the distance behind the lake we could see Mt. Cook, the tallest moutain in New Zealand, with not a cloud in site. It was quite a site to say the least. We pulled into the parking lot of the Glentaner lodge at 8:45, only to find out that reception was about to close at 9 and the lodge's kitchen had closed back at 7:30. I think it was Blanche DuBois who said something about strangers, and Pete the hotel guy set us up. He knew we had been driving for hours and that the nearest open restaurant was over 3 hours away, so he went back in the kitchen and produced a couple of cold salami/ham sandwiches. We had bought a bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc wine earlier that afternoon, so we sat outsite on the hotel patio and had a picnic as the sun set on Mt. Cook, turning it a subtle shade of pink. It was the perfect way to start off the trip. After dinner we retreated to our little cabin and hit the hay.

The next morning we packed up and drove to the national park at the base of Mt. Cook. We made brie and apple sandwiches for breakfast, and hit the trail. The next 1.5 hours led us up a large glacial valley to a lake at the terminal edge of Hooker Glacier. The sun was bright and the sky was cloudless. Turns out the whole area had been clouded in for the last two weeks and we were lucky enough to have a day of perfect weather. After arriving at the lake we sat down to rest and have a drink of water. Soon after we started chatting with a couple of ladies resting nearby. As it turned out, one of the ladies was a photographer for our local Townsville paper The Bulletin (a.k.a. "The Bully"). She was so excited at this coincedence that she insisted in taking our picture for the paper. We posed on the shore of Hooker lake while she took over 30 photos. We said our goodbyes and made our way back down the trail.

From there we continued south, stopping for a pie and quiche lunch in Twizel followed by a brief experience at a roadside salmon farm where I bought a hunk of smoked salmon. After passing through and stocking up in Queenstown, we made our way to the day's final destination, Te Anau, which would be our base of operations for the next week. We checked in to the Top-10 Holiday Park and ventured into town for a relaxing dinner at a small pizza joint, where we had their special apricot, chicken, and brie pizza. After a long day of driving, it felt good to get into bed and go to sleep. The next day would start early.

Here are the links to some of our New Zealand photos:

Set 1 (Landscape/artistic photos)

Set 2 (General photos)

Our Claim to Townsville Fame

Yes we are still alive...AND we have visited the "Chicken Counter"

Hello, hello, hello...

Well, it has been awhile since we last put anything on the blog. The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind and it doesn't look like the next six will be any different. In the next few days we will be posting some backlogged blogs. For example today we will post our Post-New Year's Eve Swimming Adventure entry, which is dated January 7th. Tomorrow or the next day we will post our Training for New Zealand and Alligator Falls entries (both dated in January). Soon after that we plan to put out some notes and pictures of our long weekend in the Sunshine Coast at the end of January.  Once that is taken care of, we'll get around to telling you about our recent, restfull, slow paced vacation to the south island of New Zealand. I have included this picture to whet the palate.

Miscellaneous things to remember...

These are just a few things we want to remember about our January in Townsville:

Rockpool swims at night

Running on The Strand

Fruit bats flying at night

Free flu shot

Geckos in the house

Castle Hill training

Running on Castle Hill in Cyclone Olga

Matt's ability to sweat

Cyclone Olga Pays North Queensland a Visit!!!

Good day Sunshine!

Ahhh..January in Townsville. 90+ degrees Fahrenheit and 90+% humidity. And all of this right next to an ocean that we cannot swim in without chancing a excruciatingly painful death at the tenticles of a host of jellyfish. What are a couple of expats to do? Well, we decided to go south for the weekend and hit the beach. Friday morning we caught an early flight down to Brisbane. We had capitalized on a super sale that was going on in December so the two tickets ended up being cheaper than 3 tanks of gas. Our friends Chris and Sara also capitalized on the cheap air fares and flew down with us that morning. We got in, picked up the rental car, and took off on the hour drive north to the Sunshine Coast.

Brisbane is situated between two very popular and distinct beach destinations. The Gold Coast to the south has been described to me as an Australian Daytona Beach, complete with mega-highrises and even higher prices. In the other direction, the Sunshine Coast is the place to be. This is the land of lowrises, laidback surfer towns and an altogether more relaxed feel. Although the most famous location on the Sunshine Coast is Noosa (where Chris and Sara spent the weekend), we decided to stay in Mooloolaba, a half hour closer to Brisbane. We had a nice ride up the coast and checked in as soon as we arrived. We stayed in a nice hotel right on the beach. I sprung the extra 10 bucks per night for the room with an ocean view and boy was it worth it....Lindsay was happy.

Over the next two days we played in the ocean, tried a bit of surfing and body boarding, took a drive up the coast, watched the sunsets, and just relaxed. We also rented a jet ski for a half hour and took it out on the ocean. Saturday night we had a great Moroccan dinner out on the Esplanade, and Sunday night we had delicious (and cheap) Thai. The Sunny Coast was a blast.

The morning of our third day we woke up early, grabbed a breakfast pie (egg and bacon), and took off south. We zoomed past Brisbane and around 10 we arrived at the big destination: Wet and Wild, which is arguably the best waterpark in the southern hemisphere. We met up with Chris and Sara, as well as our friend Megan, who now lives in Brisbane. We spent the entire day going on every single ride in the park and feeling like little kids again. At around 7 PM we were getting tired and cold, so Lindsay and I said our goodbyes and drove back up to Brisbane where we stayed in the Formule 1 motel, the cheap "near the airport" option. We grabbed a couple of gourmet burgers from "Maccas" (AKA McDonald's, pronounced Mackers), which was the only thing open unfortunately. Exhausted, we dined on our fast food and watched some Lord of the Rings in our ghetto motel room.

The next day was Australia Day, where all of OZ commemorates the landing of the first criminals. We flew back to Townsville early that morning to find it very rainy. All the planned events and fireworks were cancelled so we hung out with our friend Andrea and drank wine here at our apartment. It was a good way to celebrate criminality.

Training, Aligator Falls, and Big Crystal Creek

So last weekend I'm pretty sure I got Dengue. At least the odds are astronomically high. I'll explain. Since the week after New Years, Lindsay and I have been training for our upcoming 4 day backpack trip at Milford Sound in New Zealand. We had simillarly prepared for our summit of Kilimanjaro, the infamous Paria Canyon/Grand Canyon/Zion trip and the death march of Torres del Paine. We recognized that between the trips to Tasmania/Fraser Island and the holidays, we were woefully out of shape. Clearly our slow relaxing jogs along the ocean weren't cutting it. So, we upped the ante a little and started with walks up the trails on our personal backyard mountain, Castle Hill. Soon we were running up the road to Castle Hill. It's a tough run. About halfway into our training program I suggested we do some workouts where we fill our backpacks with books, clothes, cans of tuna and soup, and bottles of water, and then hike up the hill to simulate a real backpacking experience. Initially Lindsay was less than enthusiastic. But once I reminded her of how badly her calves felt stuggling up Indian Garden Trail out of the Grand Canyon, she was on board. So over the last three or so weeks we have been either hiking, swimming, lifting, or running, five days a week. So when we got to a free weekend, I figured we could mix business with pleasure.

Saturday morning the alarm went off at 5:30 and after a bit of wifely groaning, we were up and ready to go. We drove 45 minutes south to Alligator Creek National Park. We arrived early enough to see about 20 kangaroos/wallabys haging out. Many of them had the smallest joeys we have ever seen. I had to pry Lindsay away from them so we could get going on the big hike. Eventually we got on the trail about 6:30 and for the next five miles we trudged through forest and grassland, creatively forded a plurality of streams, and sweated profusely, all the while being followed by massive swarms of mosquitos. I do not know which was higher, the percentage of humidity in the air or the percentage of my body covered in mosquito bites. They were everywhere and aggressive as hell. Finally after a couple of hours we heard the crash of water on rocks and we knew we were close. What we saw when we arrived made us completely forget about the bazillion bites we had endured. Alligator Falls was spectacular with mutiple idilic swimming holes, and we had it all to ourselves. We hung out on the rocks and in the water for a while before venturing back to the car. We made the brilliant decision to try and run back along portions of the trail to avoid the entomological onslaught. About 2/3 of the way back, the multiple weeks worth of constant training caught up with us and we hit the wall. By the time we returned to the car we were POOPED!

On the way back home, we stopped at Global Burgers and picked up a Gold Coast and a Bangkok Burger for "take-away," then retreated to the cool confines of our bedroom. There we watched the first Lord of the Rings movie on my computer immersed ourselves in burger bliss. Then, without warning, something happed that has not happened in years, we took a well deserved nap.

Later that evening we cleaned up and headed to Chris and Sara's house for poker night. We had a great time sampling the astronomically hot, gluten-free jalapeno poppers Chris made from scratch and drinking wine. Once we were done with the "nibblies" we moved downstairs and played a little Texas Hold 'Em, before heading home.

The following day we packed the car up again and went back to Paluma (see prior blog) with Chris and Sara. This time we made our way to Big Crystal Creek. Our first stop was at "Paradise Swimming Hole." It was a scorcher of a day, so we were excited about the prospect of jumping into something called Paradise. We quickly figured out that about two thirds of all of Northern Queensland had the same idea. We spashed around in what I had renamed "Bogan Swamp," for a bit and had lunch. Unfortunately for us Sara had brought goggles. One look under the sufarce revealed what a cesspool this place really was - it was arguably 50% water and 50% algae. So, we packed up and drove up the road to another spot. We followed the other locals down a short path, and boy were we happy we did. We wound up at a beautiful tropical canyon with natural rock water slides. We had a blast sliding, jumping and swimming. Later in the day we made the obiligatory stop to the Frosty Mango and went home. Another nice weekend.

Wallaman Falls and Little Crystal Creek (Paluma)

So New Year's Day had come and gone and I had 4 more days off. Normally these days would be full of preplanned, time intensive, intense adventures. Not this time. We had just been to Tassie and Fraser Island and frankly we were tired. Plus, Lindsay hadn't done a lick of work in about a month (just kidding). Not to mention my schedule hadn't come out soon enough to plan for anything. This left us in a very unusual (and for me uncomfortable) position. Several days off in a row and nothing planned. What could I do? For those of you that know me well, you know that taking it easy and relaxing was clearly out of the question. That being said, the next four days were great...and kind of restful.

Jan 2nd: Lindsay worked, I played a lot of guitar and computer games.

Jan 3rd: We contacted our friends (including the Americans Chris and Sara and the Aussie Andrea) set off at 9:30AM, heading north to Wallaman Falls (see photo above and below). On our few trips north of Townsville we have stopped at at least a dozen waterfalls and none of them have been impressive. This is because we have only visited them during the dry season. We specifically had waited to see Wallaman after the beginning of The Wet. The five of us drove a couple hours north and at Innisfail took a left. About 45 minutes later we were there. Wallaman is the highest waterfall in all of Australia standing at 268m (880 ft). For a land with many impressive waterfalls, this is the daddy of them all. We had picked up Subway sandwiches for a picnic lunch and scarfed them down upon arrival. After we were finished, we took the 1 hour hike to the bottom of the falls through grasslands, into temperate forests, and finally transitioning into rain forest at the bottom. It was a great but HOT and humid hike. We spent some time at the bottom taking a swim while attempting to avoid the numerous crayfish that loved to nibble at our toes.

Jan 4: The next day Chris and Sara picked us up and we drove to Paluma National Park, an hour or so up the road. Prior to our departure, we stopped at the Greek restaurant down the road to pick up a couple of gyros, Greek salads and spanikopita. Ten minutes after turning off the Bruce Highway we were presented with a choice: Little Crystal Creek or Big Crystal Creek. On a whim we headed up the mountains to Little Crystal Creek. Good decision. We parked near a 100 year old rock bridge and walked down to the stream. There, only 70 minutes from our home in Townsville was a tropical, waterfall paradise. We had a nice picnic on a rock outcropping and I slurped down a couple XXXX golds, the bogan beer of choice. After lunch Lindsay retreated to the shelter of the bridge to do a little work (yes she brought her computer!) and the rest of us began exploring, swimming and cliff jumping. We all had a blast, and after an hour or so Lindsay joined in the fun. Peer pressure is a force to be reckoned with. Despite her fear and the icy nature of the water, we coaxed her into jumping off a large boulder into the water below...see the video.

As the afternoon wore on, we packed up, made a quick stop to the famous roadside ice cream venue, The Frosty Mango, and made our way back to Townsville.

New Year's Eve Urban camping

For over 2 months we had been planning a New Year's Eve overnight camping trip in the rainforest mountain area of Paluma just north of Townsville. However, on December 31st the Rain God said, "I don't think so."

Dec 31st @3AM: The rain began. Unlike the ususal trickle leading into a patter into a sprinkle into a steady rain, this went from nothing to torrential, tropical, raining sideways, biblical flood. Alas, "The Wet" had announced its arrival with a bang.

Dec 31st @9AM: Emails and calls then went out and it was decided that camping in the current conditions would be less than enjoyable, not to mention the road to the Paluma campsite was flooded. So, our only option was to move the festivities indoors and we offered our place as an "urban campsite." Everyone was psyched.

Dec 31st @3PM: I finished my coordination shift and quickly left the hospital. On the way home I stopped in the store to pick up a few last minute food items and then raced home to get ready. Lindsay's work day wasn't too crazy so she had had time to straighten up the house and prepare the guest bedroom.

Dec 31st @6PM: Chris and Sara (the Americans), Anders and Carina (the Swedes) and Andrea (the Aussie) all came over and the party began. We had a blast. We ate antipasti, tzatziki, baked brie with blackberries, homemade pitas (courtesy of the wife), burgers, chocolates, and mango macadamia ice cream. We drank an assortment of fine wines, beers and spirits. We talked and played games.

Dec 31st @11:50: Just before midnight we walked downstairs and crossed the street to the beach. There we enjoyed an amazing fireworks display over Cleveland Bay between Townsville and Magnetic island. Townsville really knows how to put on a good fireworks show. After the grand finale, we retreated back to our apartment complex for a New Year's swim in the pool, where we discussed our resolutions.

Jan 1st @3:30AM: It wasn't a crazy insane party night, so Lindsay and I were proud to make it to 3:30AM. At that point I started to pass out on the couch as the last of the movie The Hangover played on the TV.

Jan 1st @11:00AM: By the time I woke up with a mild Austrailan hangover (kangaroos jumping around in my skull) it was still 2009 back in our homeland. Lindsay and I emerged from our bedroom to find everyone camped out on our floor, couches, and guest room. After everyone awoke and sluggishly made their way to the kitchen, we had hot tea and coffee (well, Lindsay and Carina had Diet Coke's) and homemade sushi for breakfast. I couldn't think of a better way to start 2010.

Jan 1st @12:30PM: Our guests packed up and headed home, so Lindsay and I retreated to our bedroom to usher in the New Year for the first time as married couple.

We watched the GI Joe movie on the computer.

Jan 1st @4PM: That afternoon we met up with Andrea, Chris, Sara, and Anders for a leisurely kayak paddle on the Ross River. I was the only guy not to fall in.

Jan 1st @5:30PM: We raced home for a quick shower and a couple of left over burgers and met Chris, Sara, and Andrea at the BCC movie theater to see Sherlock Holmes.

Jan 1st @9:30PM: We finally crawled into bed. It had been a GREAT New Year's Day in Townsville.