Itinerary

Ok, I guess this blogging thing isn't going to happen much. I have such a hard time spending hours inside an internet cafe when I could be outside enjoying life. I'm sure you understand...

Since I'm here, though, I'll fill you in on the past, um, weeks? month? I dunno...

I guess I'll start where I left off. After the float trip, several of us did the Tongariro Crossing, touted as the best day walk in the world. Kiwi's claim a lot of things like this, and though the views are stunning, you have to keep in mind that it's just a hike. When I tell people I've done the Milford Track, their jaws drop, mostly because of the amazing things they've heard about it. I hope their exorbitant expectations don't ruin anything for them. Anyway, the Tongariro is a volcanic area with lots of thermal areas and a moon-like landscape. It is also home to Mt. Ngaurahoe (now-ra-ho-ee), better known as Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I climbed it last time I was here, so this time I opted to climb Mt. Tongariro instead. Both were in cloud, so it didn't make any difference anyway. Here's what I saw:


The rest of the walk was great, though, and the Emerald Lakes were visible this time (last time I did the Crossing, they were in cloud!):


My folks will be glad to know that I didn't make it to Taupo in time to skydive with Dave, but when Raja and I caught up with him, he was beaming and ready to go again. The weather didn't cooperate though, so we went mountain biking instead (what a tragedy!). I was pleased to find that Taupo has trails just as good as Rotorua's. I only beat Dave up a little; he did exceptionally well for a beginner.

After that, I headed back to the South Island to relax for a little while and unwind, something I hadn't really done yet. Brody, Raja and I did some day trips with a fellow McMurdo veteran, Eddie, who was on his way back down to the ice for summer. We hiked a near-vertical trail in the Arthur's Pass area, as well as a mellower jaunt in the Port Hills to Lyttleton, south of Christchurch. Here's a friendly neighborhood Kea on Avalanche Peak, Arthur's Pass:


Keas are known to dismantle windshield wipers, rubber stripping, bicycle seats, shoes... anything, really. In addition to being troublesome and fearless, they're protected (and entertaining, if you ask me, but I haven't had any shoes stolen yet).

After several days together, Eddie caught a flight south and the rest of us decided to do our own thing for a day. I went to Sumner beach, also just south of Christchurch, to do some surfing. I ran into Raja and we joked that it would be hilarious to see Brody turn up too, which he did, about an hour later. Uncanny. The surf was too big for me, but there was a re-break, which was, of course, too small. So I spent most of the afternoon getting pummeled by broken waves in some la-la land between breaks, hoping for medium waves, of which I think there were three.

I headed toward the Fiordland area again to do some more tramping (Kiwi for "hiking"). On the way, I went through Lake Tekapo and found an amazing display of Lupine next to the lake:


The ride I had hitched offered to take me to Mt. Cook, but the floral display at Tekapo was too much to pass by, so I stayed the night and spent the evening taking pictures. One of the best, of course, was nearly the first I took. One of the Aussies I got a ride with immediately ran down to the water's edge, and made a good subject:


I'd credit her name, but I've forgotten it. Still a lingering T3 from time to time... Er, wait, my memory sucked before too, didn't it?

In a day or two, Brody caught up with me to hike another Great Walk, the Routeburn, which started up this river valley:


Then up and over this mountain pass:


And finally back into the trees on the other side:


Just as good as the Milford! A night in Te Anau and then right back onto the trail the next morning to start the Kepler, the first day of which was about 14 miles of rain. Miserable. The rain stopped overnight, though, and the next day was supposed to be fine (Kiwi for "sunny"). Well, it wasn't raining, I'll give it that. The section of the Kepler is an all day hike above the tree line with some stunning views of the Fiordlands... I'm told. We couldn't see more than 100 feet in any direction. But, it lended a very mystic feel to the rocky terrain that was really nice anyway. Here I am relaxing on top of Mt. Luxmore, enjoying the... view?


The evening cleared and the morning gave this incredible view of our hut:


Huts are a standard part of Kiwi tramping. They are everywhere, so unless you're really off into the bush, you don't even really need a tent. They're expensive on the Great Walks, though, and busy and crowded and loud, so I prefer to tent it anyway. At this spot, camping was not permitted though, so we stayed at the hut.

I think that more or less brings us up to date, aside from some more mountain biking in Wanaka. Of course there is much missing to this account, most notably the people I've encountered.

The Slovenian cyclist. The beer swilling Bavarians. The Israeli grandmother and her life story. The German girl who said, "Oh! I get it. One bin for recycling and another for those who refuse to recycle!" (I chose not to correct her; Who am I to sabotage the enjoyment of absurdity for future passers by?) The Scotsman who's native language is my own, yet his accent is completely unintelligible to me. The Floridian who embodied all that the world expects of Americans: loud, crude, ignorant. The Brit with the quick wit. The Pole who keeps reappearing. The 70 year old Aussie with the tall tales. The Indian couple with such excellent English, because they're actually Canadian. The Kiwi surfer girl with the van and the sundress. The French couple who likened my backpack to Houdini's sleeve (I assured them I was out of rabbits).

Oh, and one more thing: my mad dash around the world. All subject to change, of course.

Mon 15 December: CHRISTCHURCH to SYDNEY
Fri 9 January: SYDNEY to DENPASAR BALI
Tue 20 January: DENPASAR BALI to HONG KONG
Thu 22 January: HONG KONG to BANGKOK
Wed 4 March: BANGKOK to LONDON
Fri 6 March: LONDON to VENICE
Mon 16 March: VENICE to MADRID
Sat 21 March: MADRID to MARRAKECH
Sat 6 April: MARRAKECH to NEW YORK

(For more details on anything I've done with Brody, check out his blog. He's much more thorough)