Fox Glacier - New Zealand

8/20/05
We walked to the glacier in the morning, it is only 6 kilometers away from the hotel. For someone that likes hiking the distance wasn't a problem, but it was drizzling. Anyway, we walked there.
Fox Glacier is the longest of the west coast and it can move up to 5m in a day. From 1987 to 1989 it moved 1 kilometer.



We didn't walk up the glacier because it is forbiden to do without a guide (indeed crevasses can be really dangerous) and since we didn't want to pay 90 NZ dollars for a half day tour we just explored the boundary.

The rain and the fog made the area where we were a bit more dangerous, because of falling rocks. Note how dirty the ice became.



When we left the area we heard an avalanche of rocks.



8/21/05
This day we spent travelling to Nelson. How? Hitchhike.
Glacier fox is said to have a population of 140 people, at least it is what the manager of the hotel told us, so you can imagine how small it is. The main street is actually the road going south/north.

There aren't many people traveling on this road; in about one hour and a half only eight cars passed and the curious thing was that the one that stopped for us was a Nepalese guy that came for an interview to work as a guide on the glacier.

He couldn't take us all the way though, only 1/3, because he was heading east, to Christchurch. We were left on the road again where we waited for our next lift.
Not long after a very dirt car stopped, but we should never judge some one by how dirty its car is. He was a very nice retired man from the north island that recently moved to the south. The ride wasn't long though and we were on the road again.

Maybe 30 minutes again and someone stopped, an old Nissan SUV droven by a guy that was, 20 years ago, a backpacker. He travelled in 26 countries and hitchhicked in most of them. It was funny when we asked how Egypt was, the answer was: It was as rough as it gets. Now he lives in Nelson Creek, a town whose population is only 50 people (no, it is not a typo, the population is really 50 people).

And so, in front of Nelson Creek we stayed, waiting for another good soul to take us further.



Another fourty minutes and a young farmer stopped with a car pick-up. During the conversation he gave us some hint as if he wanted to hire us for a temp job in his farm. Although it could have been interesting and fun, we told him we didn't have enough time. Later on, he confessed that he and his dad use to hire travellers for temporary job and have fun watching them working, because most of the time they are people from cities that know nothing about life in a farm, just like us. He also told us a lot about life in the countryside of NZ; depending on where you live you might have to travel to the neighboring town to go to a pub and take your sleeping bag with you in case you end up drunk.! It seems to be a commun practice there...

We were left again on the road still 3 hour by car from Nelson. This time a Israeli guy stopped, he was once a tour guide in Southeast Asia but has been leaving for the last 14 years in New Zealand. This guy gave us lots of good information about the region, the trek in Abel Tasman and brought us right to the door of the accommodation which was recommended by him.

Hitchhiking wasn't so hard after all, not to say that it was fun and interesting to meet all these different people with so different background in one single day.

At the accomodation we met an Italian guy that lived for a while in Brazil working in wineries. He will be back there in November and we´ll probably meet him again in Recife.

Wanaka - New Zealand

8/19/05
This was the last day with Flavien in New Zealand; we drove to Wanaka in the morning and did a short walk next to town called Mt Iron walk. I think that only in New Zealand you can find easy walks that rewards you with such superb views.

Mt Iron walk didn't take us more then 30 min to the top and it provided a 360° view with mountains in any direction you can possibly look.

Click here for a view of Mt Iron

Then we had lunch and Flavien left with the car to Christchurch where from he flew out of New Zealand.

Flavien, we spent three great weeks together; thanks for joining us again and we hope to see you soon in South America!

So we were left on the road and hitch-hiked to Fox Glacier. Lots of people stopped but weren't going any further than the next village located a few miles away. Eventually a nice British woman traveling in a campervan took us all the way to the glacier.

Once more, the landscape along the road was amazing. Next to Haast, on the west coast, we stopped on a view point where we could see a beach in the distance full of seals.

We got there around 7 p.m. and found a place to stay.

Queenstown - New Zealand

8/17/05

We woke up early to get to the slops which are only 25 minutes from Queenstown; the resort's name is Coronet Peak. The day was surprisingly nice, blue sky and sunny.



Before taking the first lift we had already planed which trail to come down, but to our surprise, when we got up there we found our chosen trail closed, actually we came to know only later that it was closed. There was a banner saying sky boundary - area not patrolled but it was possible to go through, so we did. It was a trail on the map anyway.

The first 5 minutes were perfect pure powder snow, but as we got to lower altitude it turned into icy and finally pure ice.
At one point it was impossible to snowboard and we had gone too far down to be able to walk up the trail.
Angie decided to walk a critical, more steep, part and resume snowboarding from lower, but what happened was that she almost walked to her death.

Again, it wasn't icy it was pure ice, really bad. Angie removed the snowboard and started walking down very slowly but within two or three steps she slipped, and on ice it is impossible to stop, unless you have an ice-climbing axe, which was not the case.

As she gained speed she started screaming, because she was going strait to a cliff on the left. She first started sliding on her but, then on her back with the head up hill and finally her belly with the head down hill, always holding the snowboard with one hand. All these changes were due to her try to drive away from the cliff, which (thanks god) she did manage to and eventually came to a complete stop.

Flavien and I watched everything frozen and unable to do anything, but after she stopped everything was funny and we all laughed.
Then it was my turn, Flavien knowing what was about to happen prepared his camera and waited for my fall. Note how the slope looks like glass.



After seeing Angie I was quite worried about my own walk down. I was more cautious and using my snowboard almost as an ice axe, but half way down I fell too, luckly it wasn't that steep anymore and my fall wasn't so bad. Once there was snow again we snowboarded normally to the bottom; what a nice first run we had!

The rest of the day went normally as we did stick to the ski boundary area. The resort is not that big but the runs are good and the view is fantastic, simply awesome; to seat for a minute for a break and watch the Wakatipu Lake and the white of the range of snowcapped mountains contrasting with the blue sky is a view that I dare it can be matched anywhere else.



Although we kept skiing in the boundary it doesn't mean we stopped doing shit, here is Flavien, the crazy Frenchman, in one of his many jumps.



It was nice to snowboard again after so long. At night we went to a packed pub with nice live music and cold beer.

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This is around Queenstown and we were planing to do, but we didn't. Click and check it out. I'm still not sure if we didn't do because of the price or ...

www.canyonswing.co.nz

8/18/05
The second day we explored around Queenstown. We drove to Glenorchy along the Wakatipu Lake. This area is now heavily explored because it was a set for the Lord of the Rings..

Click here for a panoramic of Wakatipu Lake

Glenorchy is at the other end of the lake and it has some unique trees on the shore. The water is calm and works as a perfect mirror. The reflection on the water is breathtaking.



We went all the way to Paradise in Mount Aspiring National Park, yes, the place next to Glenorchy is called Paradise and it justifies its name.

When we entered the park area the paved road became a little dirt path, but heading to Paradise :)



We crossed many farms with sheeps and cows roaming in long green fields with awesome range of mountains on the background.



On the way back to Queenstown when we got hungry we pulled the car out of the road in a picnic area. The place was so beautiful that we didn't feel like leaving.





This is with no doubt the highest concentration of natural beauty per square meter.

After all that astonishing views we went to, the not so exciting, Arrowtown and then to Cromwell with a stop in a winery where we had the best Pinot Noir ever, but we didn't buy anything this time.

Milford Sound - New Zealand

8/15/05
Te Anau is a small town in the middle of the Sounds, in the south are the Doudtful Sounds and in the north are the Milford Sounds. Te Anau lies on a lake and at the foot of the mountain range. It is also the start of one of the New Zealand 9 Great Walks, the Kepler trail is the one we wanted to do. In winter time it is usually closed due to snowy and icy conditions.

We went to the visitor center to get more information and they told us that part of the trek is feasible even in winter, at least up to the bush limit where from we could already have a nice view. We also were informed that the Milford Sound Road was closed due to avalanches and we would not be able to drive on it, so we went for the hike.

The trail begins at one end of the lake and follows along its boarder but through the forest. It is very humid and most of the ground is covered with moss.

Click here for a panoramic of the start of the trail

After a while we left the trail and walked along the lake which has a stony shore. When we got closer to the mountain we went back to the trail and started climbing up the mount.



Stupid picture ...



While we were going up the forest the vegetation was changing and the path too. It was getting muddier and close to the bush limit, there was some snow. When we reached the bush limit it changed drastically.

The snow was really high and there was very windy bringing the temperature down. We passed in one second from a forest to no vegetation at all. We kept climbing a little with snow up to our knees and enjoyed and amazing view.





We were very close to the Luxmore hut, which is usually the first stop of the 3-day hike. The view was breathtaking with on one side the lake, the other the fjords and behind us snow-capped mounts, it only lacked a blue sky.

From there we went back to the starting point. The roundtrip took us 7 hours of a rewarding walk. It must be great to do the whole walk! Maybe one day… We went back to the visitor center for updates about the road to Milford Sound and we had good news. The woman told us that they were clearing it and that it should be reopened the next morning.

8/16/05
The road was open, so we drove to the famous Milford Sound, one of the world's most impressive alpine scenery. The Fiordland National Park is a World Heritage Area and New Zealand's largest area of natural wilderness. The park covers an area with glaciated mountains, fjord-indented coastline, lakes, rivers, and forests. The only problem was that it was really foggy and we could not see it at its best. It was also raining, which made hundreds of waterfalls appear all long the way. That was really beautiful!



At the end of the day we drove to Queenstown and rented the snowboard and ski to slide down the Coronet Peak the following day.

Southeastern coast - New Zealand

8/13/05
From Timaru, where we spent the night, we kept going south to Dunedin which is also very small and slow. It is a charming town with lots of old (old regarding europeen settlement history) stony houses.The train station is an example and became a landmark.



Dunedin has a weird world record; they claim to have the world's steepest street. :o
In New Zealand it is also famous for its university which turned it into a student town.
Anyway, we didn't stay long there, we headed to Otago peninsula. to see its wildlife protected area. To get there we drove along the water in a tortuous narrow road with a nice view of the sea.



The roads in South New Zealand are all two-ways single-lane with very little traffic, a pleasure to drive.



At the reserve, there are Albatrosses, penguins, seals and lots of other birds, though the animals were too far to photograph, because we did not want to pay the high price to get closer.

At the far southeast of the southern island, we also made a stop in Kaka Point and Nugget Point at the end of the day where we hide in a shelter to observe the Yellow Eyed penguins. It was already dawn and it was, again, impossible to make a photo for you guys, but we saw 3 Yellow Eyed penguins out of a population of 8 living in Nugget Point, not bad. The seals were much easier to spot.

For the night we went to Owaka where we had a nice dinner in the, probably, only restaurant in town.

8/14/05
Next day we drove through the Southern Scenic Road and went to the Lake Wilkie.
The way goes through a hilly landscape with hundreds of farms. There are many many many sheeps, 14 for each person in New Zealand.



We were very surprised to see that New Zealand is deer-farming. We had lunch in Invercargill and then went to the Mclean Falls after a short walk through a nice forest; it started to rain so we couldn't do much. Though we crossed wonderful landscapes going from the luxuriant greeny hills to snow-capped mountains.

Click here for a panoramic of the range of mountains on the way to Te Anau

At the end of the day we arrived in Te Anau.

Christchurch - New Zealand

8/12/05
We arrived around midnight in Christchurch, picked up the rental car that Flavien nicely booked for us and headed to a hostel in the center. In the morning, when we drove around the city we realized how small it was, although, it is a gateway to New Zealand.
We stopped in one of the few animated streets for a delicious brunch, sitting outside enjoying the sunny weather. While waiting for the food we had a closer look in the profile of the country. We realized that everything in New Zealand is small, there are only 4 millions of people in both islands being Auckland the biggest city with 1.3 millions.
We then walked around the charming gardens of the Homestead before visiting the center of the city.
We made a mandatory stop at the Cathedral; its foundation was laid in 1864 and it was open for the first time in 1881, but final completion was not done until 1900.



At the square where the Cathedral is located there was a big chess game going on. (literary)



Then we headed to the best part of the visit in Christchurch, the Antarctic Center. Christchurch is the aerial gateway to the Antarctica and it is the departure point of 70% of the expeditions going there.
There are tons of information on researches made on the frozen continent, penguins, how it formed and how it helps to understand the global warming.
There is a room demonstrating how people live in the New Zealand's base in Antarctica and simulator to let you grasp how the wind is like there.



Surprising things we learned:
- It is not an ice cap, but a completely frozen continent rounded by glaciers.
- It is one of the driest places on earth, comparable to Sahara.
- Because it is not much humidity there is very little snow there.
- Winds reach over 300 kilometers per hour.
- Hair grows 3 times faster if you're living there.
- It registered the lowest temperature on the planet, -83C.
- At that temperature, with normal clothes, you would die in less then 10 min.

We spent the rest of the day learning about Antarctica until they kicked us out of the center when it closed :)

Enough of Christchurch we headed south to Timaru.

Sydney II - Australia

8/11/05
This was our last day in Australia. In the morning we went to the airport to see Victoria, a very good friend from New York who had a connection in Sydney and we had the opportunity to meet before her boarding. We arrived there earlier and impatiently waited for her, happy to be able to soon see her again. Unfortunately a few hours are not enough to catch up with all the things we could tell each other but it was already very nice to spend some time together on the other side of the planet.




After that short meeting and a sad goodbye, we left the airport for Bondi Beach, the closest beach to the city. It is only 8 kilometers away from the city center and a surfers favorite.



There we went for the small but very charming coastal walk with very nice views of the beach. The color of the water was very nice and we could see the reefs under it.



Soon it was time to head back to the airport, this time for our flight to Christchurch, New Zealand.

Blue Mountains - Australia

8/8/05
We woke up early and drove to the visitor center of the Blue Mountains National Park. There we got some information about the hikes and rock climbing.
We then headed to the start of our chosen hike in Wentworth Falls. The trail went down into an impressive canyon reached by a narrow path on its wall, at least there was a fence to prevent falling :)



Not too far down there was the magnificent waterfall.



Click here for a wider picture of the waterfall

Continuing down it got harder, the access was made via slack ladders around 80 degrees of inclination, there was even a protection around it because if you fall it could be your last hike.



This part of the trail was almost vertical, we went through many stairs like that until reaching the bottom of the canyon. From there we crossed two types of forest, a rain forest and a gumtree forest. The gumtrees are taller then the others and dominate the forest. Note how Flavien and Angie are tiny next to the tree.

Click here for a vertical panoramic of gumtree

After walking a while in the canyon, the trail climbed and brought us back up to the edge of the canyon cliff from where we could see the whole canyon.



What is the adjective for this one?

Click here for a panoramic of canyon

We walked back to the car along the edge of the canyon enjoying the wonderful view all along. Then we took a scenic road along the cliff and made several stops, including the major attraction: the Three Sisters. Try to spot a little white dot at the middle of the leftmost tower, that is a person crossing the bridge that give access to the Three Sisters.



After all this wonderful sights we went to the town center in search of climbing gear. We found a climbing shop where we rented gear for the next day with Colin, another awesome friendly Australian (www.kacadventure.com.au). He gave us also all the information about where to climb and where to camp for free.

The dinner was in a Italian restaurant in town with wine from the Yara Valley. For the night we camped just next to the climbing site, Mount York.

8/9/05
We woke up early, unset everything and put it back into the car,
had breakfast in the middle of the forest in a picnic area and set off to rock climb.
Although the weather wasn't perfect we spent the whole day climbing. It was a bit cold and windy, but it was great anyway!

The Rock Climb
We climbed a sports route but with carrots, these is a method from the dark ages of sports climbing, according to Colin. Instead of a bolt there is a screw on the rock where you have to hang a loose bolt and clip the quickdraw on it; depending on your position it can be harder then choosing a cam to put in a crack.






Back to the town center to return the gear and had a nice chat with
Colin about rock climbing. He told us a lot about climbing in Korea, maybe in another trip. He also showed us his collection of gear from all around the world!!

For the night we camped again in another area, Megalong Valley.

8/10/05
Another early day, we woke up to walk in Blackheath but we did only a small walk due to bad weather. There was a strong wind and it started raining. With the sun still shinning we had another rainbow on the sky raising from the bottom of the canyon.



Around noon we went back to Sydney and to have a break of all the hard tourism we went to Woolloomooloo neighborhood for a nice Kangaroo steak and then to a pub in Kings Cross for some drinks.

Sydney - Australia

8/7/05
This day was dedicated to the visit of the city. Sydney has more than 4 millions of people and there is quite a lot of things to do. Unfortunately some of them were out of our budget, like climbing to the top of the harbor bridge (AUS$ 180) which is the city's major icon or visiting the back stage of the Opera (AUS$ 140). We had to stick to the cheapest options like walking around the different neighborhoods. Cheap accommodation in the city is also impossible, we stayed in the suburb some 20 minutes away by train from the center.

We started with the park just next to the Darling Harbor, where some museums and exhibition centers are located. A group of Asian people were practicing tai chi on the grass, so you can imagine that right in the middle of Sydney there is a quiet relaxing place. Families were having brunch along the water in the little cafes.

From there we headed to The Rocks, the oldest neighborhood in the city, named after its rocky shoreline. It was founded when the first convict tents were erected there in 1788 and it is now one of Sydney's most famous precinct.



There are lots of cute little houses made of stones. From its harbor, there is a nice view of the city's modern buildings.

Click here for a panoramic view from the Darling Harbor

We then wandered around newer neighborhoods...



...towards the Opera House to have a closer look to it. The Opera House was constructed between 1959 and 1973 and designed by a Danish architect. It houses much more than operas, from jazz concerts to plays including some free attractions.



From the Opera we crossed the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens with its impressive and weird trees. Our last stop was across the town hall for a drink just before heading back to the suburb to get our car and drive to the Blue Mountains.

It was already getting dark when, on the way to Blue Mt looking for a place to spend the night, we stopped in a motel but it was too expensive. Surprisingly the owner, a Polish guy, used his computer and did a research on the Internet and also showed us a list of cheaper accommodations that we could check. We were really surprise and it was actually the first time it happened to us but not the last. Anyway, we followed his advice and went to a cheap place in Penrith, a town just a few kilometers before the start of the Blue Mountains.

From Melbourne to Sydney - Australia

8/4/05
We left Phillip Island early to start our long way to Sydney. We crossed Yara Valley, one of the several wine region of Australia, where we went for some wine tasting (you might have noticed we really like wine). We stopped at three different wineries and everywhere enjoyed lots of different kinds. The tasting is free, buying is not mandatory and the people are very friendly.



Surprisingly the prices were extremely high compared to what we used to pay in New York for an Australian wine bottle. In one of the winery, we enjoyed some Australian cheese and a fantastic mud cake. A rainbow came out just when we were leaving the the winery.



Then we hit the road again crossing wonderful forests of eucalyptus and then the tallest trees in Australia which I forgot the name. The road started climbing up the mountain and it was getting colder and colder. Not only it was getting narrower, but in certain spots it was also quite icy. After a long drive in the forest it was already dark and we decided to find a place to stay in the next village, Wawa. There was only one hotel that was closed and a campground. We rang at the door of the little house and a woman showed up. Oops, we woke her up. Because it was too cold we stayed in a cabin instead of camping. :)

8/5/05
We left our cosy and warm cabin at 8:30 to get into the cold. We drove down the mountains into nice fogy hilly landscape.



Cows were roaming around on the hills. In some fields there were big water puddle due to flooding. The fog was quite amazing, the trees turned into shadows.



After crossing the hilly scenery for an hour, the road climbed up an other of mountains, the Snowy Mountains this time. Snow was covering the forest and the road was very slippery.



We stopped at a viewpoint from where you can see the snowy mountains with its peak,the Kosciuszko Mount. The whole area got actually turned into the Kosciuszko National Park. Once out of the park zone, we saw a small ski resort, the Thredbo Village resort, with some skiers. Soon we were going down the mountain again. We stopped and picnicked enjoying the view of a nice lake. Then we headed to Canberra where the weather was very pleasant. We drove around the city and made some stopped here and there, like at the Parliament House...



...or along the Lake Burley in which the 6-ton Captain Cook Memorial Jet spits out some water 140m high in the air.



The city isn't very big and not too busy either.

Northeast of Canberra, is another wine region. We could not resist and again we stopped for tasting. But since it was already 4:45pm, we only had the time to go to one place, the Larks Hill winery. We didn't get disappointed, the wine was very good and again we bought a bottle. We hit the road again and drove up to the Eastern coast, to Bateman's bay. There we stayed in a motel owned by an friendly Indian couple and enjoyed their cooking, a great Indian dinner.


8/6/05
Dolphins are swimming in Bateman's Bay, so we decided to have breakfast near the water hoping to see some. But unfortunately, we did not see any. The woman from the motel advised us to check out the coast south of Bateman's Bay for around 25km before heading north towards Sydney. we did so, and it was really worth it. some of he beaches were amazing, on others surfers were out and all along we could see very nice houses. At one point, we had to turn back though. Our first stop was the Pebbly Beach where the crowd is mainly composed of kangaroos.



They seem to be used to people because we were able to get really close to them. They kept eating and didn't even bother about our presence.



Our next stop was in Nowra for lunch by the Shoalhaven river. Some impressive big birds were flying around, probably waiting for us to leave to eat the crumbles. A bit further north, in Kiama, we went to see the famous blowhole. It is a hole in a rock through which water blows out making a loud blow sound and, indeed, Kiama means where the sea makes a noise. There is also a lighthouse at the top of the cliff from where you can enjoy a great view of the surroundings.



From Kiama we went to Sydney along the coast stopping to see nice beaches very close to Sydney. We arrived in town at night, we crossed the harbor bridge to see the skyline of the city wit the so famous Opera and the bridge.

Click for a panoramic of Sydney at night