Ice Climbing Franz Josef Glacier

Well, I guess it is about time I (Nicole) put up a post. Yesterday afternoon we got to Franz Josef Glacier and did some great hikes near the two glaciers (Fox glacier is only about 25 kilometers away). The glaciers are special in that they extend into a rain forest at very low altitudes- Franz Josef extends down to about 24o meters above sea level. For some reason, the colors here seem to be exagerated just a little bit beyond what you expect in the real world. Last night was no exception, and despite the overcast weather we saw some incredible scenery.


We were also lucky to run into Adam (Andrew's friend from the Stennis), his girlfriend Tamara and his friend Conor. It was pretty cool to see some friends from the states (randomly) and hear about their travels over a few drinks.

This morning we got up early for our ice climbing trip. Franz Josef glacier is supposedly one of the few places in the world you can do this kind of trip because of its accessibility. It was a pretty crappy day, unfortunately, with rain from start to finish. Despite the weather, going out on the glacier was incredible. We got fitted out with crampons (I have no idea how to spell that, but they are basically metal spikes for your boots) which gave us amazing traction on the ice, but not so awesome traction on rock and slush. We travelled over and around some amazing caverns and walls. The whole thing was a little surreal. The glacier looks really out of place next to the rain forest and it is strange to see the curious (tropical looking) birds that wander onto the ice.

We are off to Queenstown tomorrow for a stopover and then on to Milford and Doubtful Sounds. Thanks to everyone who has been posting comments. . . we love hearing from you!

Abel Tasman

We just finished three days in Abel Tasman National Park and then today in the Kahurangi National Park. Abel Tasman is the countries smallest national park, but also the most frequented. It's most famous for it's sea kayaking and coastal hiking track. We rented a kayak and spent two nights in at Bark Bay while kayaking around the coast during the day. The granite sand and sunny skies make for some of the most beautiful, clear blue water that I've ever seen. The first day was spent with a guide, Kyle, and two other travelers from England. Peak season is still a couple of weeks away and we were fortunate to have a smaller group. By the time we were paddling out of the park on Saturday most groups consisted of 8 or more people.

Kayaking was an extremely intimate way to see the park. During high tide we were easily able to paddle up several of the estuaries and streams feeding into the ocean. Several islands were also easily accessible including Tonga Island, the most popular, located in the wildlife reserve. Sea lions were all over the islands and the coast line - some of them sun bathing and others floating at the surface of the water balancing with one flap in the air. We snuck up a little too close to one and he growled at us a bit. On one occasion we saw a sea lion jumping out of the water and standing on its head. Birds were also more than abundant and we were able to cruise by a couple nests. We even spotted the Kiwi Experience drivers again - seems we're following a similar path through the country.

Since kayaking is an entirely upper body workout, we were also able to hike several miles of the coasal track in the evening - the combination was fun and exhausting. We were extremely lucky with the weather and spent most of all three days enjoying the most sun we've seen since being in New Zealand. I can't even begin to explain how overwhelmingly beautiful this place is and the pictures barely do it justice.

We finished kayaking Abel Tasman on Saturday and immediately started driving towards the west coast town of Westport. The weather quickly turned back to the standard downpour, but we decided to spend the next day hiking in the Oparara Basin within the Kaharungi National Park - a windy and rainy two hour drive North of Westport. We spent most of the day on short day hikes and exploring a couple sandstone arches and caves. The caves were our favorite part - not that the hikes were bad, but because it made the area unique. We saw more glow worms, New Zealands biggest spider, and some more wetas.

We're now in Greymouth and continuing South tommorrow towards Franz Josef - famous for two glaciers (Franz Josef and Fox). Adam Buckfelder (one of our friends from the Stennis) is supposed to be in town as well, so hopefully we get a chance to meet up. Nicole is set on doing some ice climbing tommorrow - a first for both of us!

On the road again.

Drove from Rotorua to Palmerton North today while stopping at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and Hukka Falls along the way. The thermal springs were a collection of boiling pools of various colors based on the sediment - yellow for sulfur (and a wonderful smell) and red for manganese oxide. We also watch the Lady Knox Geyser erupt and visited a local boiling mud pit. The geyser was ho-hum, but cool to watch. My favorite part was the mud pit - it was straight out of a scene from Labyrinth (I know at least a few of you have seen it). I know it sounds lame, but it was fun. Hukka falls was mostly impressive because of the water color - some of the bluest water I've ever seen, especially for a river. The water is used for something like 15% of the countries power generation.


Not much exciting to report. After spending the night in Palmerton North we drove to Wellington and have been hanging out in the city all day. We visited the Te Papa museum for several hours, ate dinner, and are about to head out into the city to check out some of the night life. Wellington is one of New Zealands biggest city and is supposedly more of a cultural center than Auckland so we're hoping to see some good live music and enjoy a few pints. Not too much though, because tommorrow we catch an early ferry to the South Island. Once we arrive in Picton we will drive up to Motueka for a night and then head into Abel Tasman National Park.

Team America

The wait payed off and we were able to descend into the Ruakuri (Maori for 'den of dogs') Caves. The story goes that Maori hunters chased a pack of dogs into these caves 400-500 years ago, thus the name. The Black Water Rafting Co. has been tubing through the caves for about 20 years. We signed up for the Black Abyss - a combination of abseiling (New Zealanders use the German word for down rope, vice the French word we use; rappelling), tubing, jumping (off small ledges), flying fox, and climbing up small waterfalls within the caves.

We spent about 3 hours playing in the caves led by two guides in a group of seven. Luckily the group we were part of was a bunch of tour guides in training for Kiwi Experience buses. For three weeks they ride around New Zealand trying all of the tourist attractions and learning about the area so they can be good tour guides. They were a rowdy group fond of nicknames and quickly dubbed us Team America. We were treated to several renditions of the theme song from the movie and several F#%K eahs to boot. If you don't get the reference, I highly recommend renting the movie Team America.

We both had a blast in the caves and made it out safe, but exhausted. The group was able to move quickly, so we were able to accomplish a lot of extra ground than the average group. The water was very cold, but they brought coffee, tea, chocolate, and hot Gatorade (which makes for an interesting hot bath when poured down the back of a wetsuit). We both felt that it was well worth the wait. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the glow worms. Although not actually worms, the caves are famous for the insects that give off a relatively bright bio-luminescent glow. While floating down the caves on our back it was almost as if we were looking at a clear night sky. During the larval stage, their waste interacts with oxygen to create the light in order to attract insects to eat. They spend 6-7 months in this stage before becoming winged insects themselves, mating, and then dying about two days later. Pretty sweet life.

From the caves, we jumped back into the car and drove a couple hours to Rotorua - known mostly for skydiving and Maori Villages. Didn't get a chance to skydive, but we did go to a "traditional" Maori Village for a steam cooked dinner. It was entertaining, educational, and interesting to see some of the native customs - dancing, singing, etc. We were part of a huge group of tourists and it was obivous that the 'villagers' were a bit burned out on the performance. So it seemed a bit of a canned show. Still, worth the visit.

Left Lane, Left Lane, Left Lane!!

Picked up our rental car today, The Chariot, and got our first taste of driving on the left side of the road. It definitely makes driving more interesting. Oddly, though, it was harder getting used to shifting with my left hand and signaling with the right hand that was more akward than simply driving on the left side. Have to admit, though, I did pull out into the right lane once dodged back into the left after seeing an oncoming car....that and Nicole screaming,"Left lane, left lane, left lane."



Our first destination was Waitomo for The Legendary Black Water rafting. It was suppoesd to be three hours of caving, tubing, and rappelling, but the river flooded the caves out. We're staying in the area tonight, though, so hopefully we'll have a chance tommorrow. The cancelled caving allowed us to see some of the less populated areas and we spent the afternoon driving to the coastal town of Marokopa while stopping at various trails along the way.

The trails were impresively well maintained considering we appeared to be the only people stopping - or even on the road for that matter. We stopped at Mangapohue Natural Bridge, Piripiri Caves, and Marokopa Falls. Each stop had about a 10 or 15 minute hike and some amazing scenery. It's hard to belive that these were just minor attractions. The entire area reminded me of Hobbiton - incredibly lush green fields full of quiet streams and hundreds of sheep.

Auckland Arrival

We left from Seattle at 3:20PM, flew into San Francisco and immediately left for a 13 hour flight to Auckland, NZ. I (Andrew) watched 7 movies on the flight. They had all three Lord of the Rings available, but I already watch them back to back to back earliar this year, so I had to settle for some lesser known titles. I think Nicole watched a couple and got a few hours of sleep.

We landed in Auckland at about 5Am local time. After stumbling around the airport for a couple hours we finally caught a bus into the city. While Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, it feels smaller than Portland, OR. We found a hostel downtown, but the room wasn't availble for a couple hours so we wandered around the streets. It was quiet when we started - still about 6am at that point - but livened up after a few hours. I was only almost hit once. We were warned that the drivers weren't exactly pedestrian freindly in the city, but had to learn the hard way that I may as well have a target painted on my chest.

The picture above is from Victoria Park in Auckland. Personally, I think it is amazing that Nicole was able to lift me off the ground. We strolled through a market and some random stores waiting for our room. We're planning on hanging out in town tonight and then heading out in the morning with a rental car that we arranged at the hostel. Everything is going well so far, but we both agree that it feels disturbingly similar to the port calls we had in the Navy. We both feel exhausted from the plane flight and we're wandering around a somewhat large port city that seems foreign and yet similar (plenty of Burger Kings and Starbucks). We're hoping a good night sleep and some adventure tommorrow will break the spell.