Hitch Hiking

After Abel Tasman, I decided to try my luck hitch hiking around for a few days. The first day I made it back from Abel Tasman to Nelson using three different rides. It took about 2 hours. The second day, I was headed north to Motueka. I was outside with my thumb out for over an hour and was picking up my bag to give up and catch the bus when a car finally pulled overto offer me a lift. Her name was Catherine, a local Kiwi and devout Christian. Instead of giving me a ride to Motueka, we ended up at her place in richmond for lunch. I then met her parents and 5 siblings, and stayed on for dinner. We had a preyer session for my injured wrist, which was fun. Then we headed to a camper site to deliver food to one of their sick freinds, but he wasn't home. Then we headed to a local lookout spot for Nelson, which was gorgeous. Finally, around 7:00 p.m.(about 6 hours later) we headed for Motueka. It was a great day and I plan to stay in touch with this amazing family.

Abel Tasman National Park

After Dad left I headed up to Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. I did a two day, one night hike. The track is a very easy walk with beautiful coastal views. Unfortuntely, my wrist is still out of action so I was unable to kayak, but there will be a next time...

Ode to my father

What a great guy. My Dad came all the way to New Zealand to spend two weeks with me. He put up with my shit, stayed in hostels, and paid for the transportation(rental car) the whole way. After running and working out each morning, he still kept up on all the hikes. We saw great wild life in Dunedin, took a tour of the Milford Sound, hiked the Rob Roy Glacier, and talked about life for endless hours during the car rides. Dad, thank you so much for coming out. I miss you already. I can't wait until we do it again. Mom, now its your turn. Ha ha!

FRANZ JOSEPH!

After Wanaka, we headed up the west coast to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. This drive is supposed to be one of the most magnificent in all of New Zealand. Unfortunately for us, it was pissing down rain and we could barely see in front of us, let alone any views. Franz Joseph was the same way. It was pouring rain most of the day I went, but it opened up a bit when we got up to the top. The boots they gave me were soaked and my feet were wet and cold the entire time, but the glacier was spectacular. Its a 7 km by 7 km piece of ice, and its getting bigger by the year. Take a look at some of the extra photos to get a perspective on the size of the thing.More Pictures

Wanaka

From Queenstown, we headed just one hour north to beautiful Wanaka. This town is like Queenstown without the shot of adrenaline. It is just as gorgeous, with better hiking, good food and none of the over craziness. My dad and I did the Rob Roy Glacier hike. After a one hour drive into Mt. Aspiring National Park, the hike winds through a huge valley, lush forests, and ends at a view point below the big glacier. It was great.
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Queenstown

After Milford sound, Dad and I headed up to the adrenaline capital of the country for some fun. We booked the Shotover jet together and I opted for the hanggliding in the afternoon as well. The shotover Jet was a lot of fun. It is a flat bottom boat that can go up to 85 kph with a full load of people. We raced down narrow canyons and spun full 360 degree spins in the open water. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my hang gliding adventure was canceled due to the winds. Hopefully, I will get to do it later in the trip. Pictures of the shotover jet to come...

In the afternoon, we headed up the gondola hike to catch views of Queenstown and the surrounding area. It was beautiful. There was also a luge ride at the top, which was quite fun.

Milford Sound

We continued on through that Catlins into Te Anau. This is the town where you access all of the Fiordlands. We stayed at Barnyard backpackers, and the next day went to Milford Sound. It was cloudy and windy, but the rain from the night before meant that the waterfalls were full. It actually rains over 200 days a year in Milford Sound and the get over 20 feet a year. Crazy. Stay tuned for some great videos. ON the way back, we got stopped by an enormous heard of sheep. It took about 15 minutes to get through.More Pictures

Milford Sound 1
Milford Waterfall closeup

The Catlins

We caught a really rainy day driving through the Catlins on southern tip of the island. We stopped by Nugget point, Sandy Bay, and Jack's Blow Hole. Sandy Bay was an adventure to say the least, but one where you had to be there to understand. Although none of the sights were that great, we had a lot of fun, caught a full rainbow, which I'd never seen, and stayed at Curio Bay, which was great. We awoke on the ocean to huge waves and surfers getting crushed before we carried on. It was cool.

Dunedin

After Omauru, we made our way down to Dunedin. Here, we visited the Otagao peninsula and saw more wildlife. We explored Victroy beach, which was almost deserted expcept for us and some Sea lions. We also hiked through tunnel beach which was really nice. Then, we went to Sandfly Bay for some more Sea lions and penguins. Then it was off through the Catlins...
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DAD!!!!

My dad is in New Zealand. Let the good times roll. My Dad asked me if he could come out, and of course the answer was yes. We spent the first night at Lake Tekapo. Nothing spectacular. We planned to head to Mt. Cook, but when we awoke the weather was terrible so we headed straight down to Omauru for the day. WE saw Yellow eyed penguins, blue penguins and fur seals. It was great. Pictures to come soon....

Wanaka

This whole country is a postcard. It is hard to believe. After bungy jumping and hiking the Kepler track, I was tired out. I stopped in Wanaka and mellowed out for 4 days. I watched spiderman 3 in a funky little cinema full of couches, and caught up on some rest. The next day, I paid a doctor to look at my wrist for 5 minutes and say "it might be this, it's probably from all the wristy stuff you've been doing here's a perscription for anti inflamitories, that'll be 85 bucks". What a rip off. 'Wirsty stuff'? What a diagnosis. Love ya dad, but my experience with all other doctors(exlcuding the great Bob Waterhouse, and all other family freind doctors of whom I don't have time to remeber)continues to be un pleasant. Moving on. On the last day of my trip I hiked up to the peak of Mt. Roy which overlooks Lake Wanaka and looks out to Mt. Aspiring. Spimply spectacular. Next,I meet up with my father in Christchurch. Get ready for some fun stuff...

Walking above the clouds

After the bungy jump, I met two cool guys in my hostel, Jeff from Kansas, and Simon from England. We headed down to the fiordland to do some hiking. I was planning on doing the Milford Sound Track, but we ended up on the Kepler Track instead. I was a little short on equipment and had to make do with what I had. AS you can see I am wearing a wool hat, jacket, wool tights, with shorts and wool socks over the top. It was quite a sight, but not as good as our morning view. We woke up the scond day at 1,300 meters or 4,000 feet, to a stunning views of cloud cover beneath us. It was like a big ocean of clouds. We then hiked through a big cave, over some grand ridges, through moss covered forests, and a beautiful waterfall. Spectacular. See More Pictures