Ten days in South Island- part 2

Day 6/March 2-

We checked out of the hotel after our standard oatmeal and protein powder breakfast to go to a place called puzzle world. It's one of the words largest mazes and has a few rooms of really crazy things… LIKE THIS POOL TABLE HERE,  the pictures speak for themselves!!

Cecil sitting on the toilets- too much protein powder for breakfast

(cecil near the END of his ride.  Notice the sign he rolled that way!)

(Playing in the perspective room)

(LOOK HOW TALL CEC GOT!)

(puzzle world yeah!)

(Broke my arm?)

(They had an exhibit about logos and use of negative and positive space.  Notice Pittsburgh has a lion and gorilla in the white while the tree is in the black.  Notice they also spelled Pittsburgh wrong in the description in red.)

(We decided to try the classic challenge maze.  Apparently its one of the largest permanent mazes in the world)

(After 30 minutes, we were out of time, hot and confused.  We only found 2 of the 4 colors)

(But we did SQUUEZE, lol, some time in for some funny photos)

Karen getting a little tipsy

(We also did a quick stop at a lavander farm.)

After that, we drove to mount cook. We stopped at the i-site to grab a walking track guide and the toilets then did the hooker valley track. It was a three hour round trip hike in the gorge below the mountain and glacier. We had perfect, albeit sunny weather. I was grateful I had sunscreen on me and reapplied often. I'll let the pictures speak again. This was one of the (many) places we really wished   We had more time!! But alas, after that it was another few hours to Christchurch. We checked in late and I was a little irritated as I had arranged a late check in but the guy called and asked where we were. I reminded him as nicely as I could about late check in that j had called about and he remember but it was annoying. I was thinking "we discussed his why are you getting snide about us not being there." Anyway, no harm no foul and we checked in and crashed in preparation for our tour the next day.

(And we're walking...... at the mountain on the hooker valley track!)

(See Cecil posing at the top of the hill?)

(Cairns/rock stack at the end of the track at the lake in front of mount cook)

(A stream on the side of mountain)

Day 7/ March 3-

In the morning we made our way downtown and found some parking at the isite. We had a tour lined up on a traditional London double decker bus. We started in the city center and saw all the devastation of the earthquake. There was an earthquake 5 years ago that was of an unheard of magnitude and intensity. Apparently they didn't know until this earthquake that they were on a major fault line so a ton of the buildings were reduced to rubble. They had storage containers everywhere blocking the roadways so rubble from the rock faces didn't trash he roads. A mall was created out of storage containers out of necessity and a beautiful cathedral was created from cardboard and storage container to address the need because the old cathedral was completely leveled. They have a memorial of painted chairs for the 180 or so people who died as well. After that, we did an extended city tour which gave us an even broader view of the devastation as well as a nice view of the city and the coast it's built on. After that, we got a bite to eat and walked a little of the Christchurch gardens. We stopped at a local and disappointing game store as well as the cardboard cathedral and the memorial. The cardboard cathedral was especially interesting. So clean and nice although it was made from plastic sheeting, cardboard tubes, concrete, glass and shipping containers! After our day in Christchurch we fought some very rare traffic in the city and drove the threeish hours to kaikoura. Once again, we had an early morning the next day.

(yes, it was a london traditional double decker bus- built in the early 80's and used to drive around london!) 

(The damage to the old cathedral was massive.  Notice the use of shipping containers to hold up the wall)

(Out of necessity, a mall of shipping containers opened a few days after the quake and is now the hub of business downtown)

(We stopped at the city lookout in the outskirts, note the city in the background)

(We also stopped at a local beach,  and there was this rock face you could climb up on.  The stairs were terrifying! Nope, not a coral reef....these are stairs

(The cardboard cathedral was constructed to serve the city in place of the destroyed old one.  Note the gigantic carboard tubes and plastic sheeting for a roof.)

(Although made of unconventional materials, I thought its simplicity was stunning)

(In the cathedral were these origami cranes in memory of those lost and injured in the quake)

(The white chair memorial to those who died.  Many of the chairs were given to he artist by the families of those who died)

(After that we walked through the GIGANTIC botanical gardens.  Cec found a spot to rest though.)

Day 8/March 4-

The alarm rings at 5:30, but it's worth it. We have a 6:45am whale watching tour. I'm pretty happy I premeditated with seasickness mecs because the boat is somewhat small  and we go out pretty far and fast. Kaikoura is a peninsula town and what makes it great is it's very near the continental ocean shelf. So you don't have to go very far to be in the deep ocean. We ended up seeing five whales as well as a gigantic pack of wild dolphins!! So awesome.

(We were up for a breathtaking sunrise)

(READY TO GO! )

(See the spray from the sperm whale breath?)

(And we saw not just whales, but the new Zealand only dusky dolphin)

(WE saw 5 whales.  The fifth one in particular said goodbye in style!)

After that, we grabbed some breakfast and headed to the isite. We found out out seal swim tour had been canceled due to poor visibility. We ended up finding out about my new obsession. Pedal kayaking. We booked a sunset tour and drove out to the fur seal colony. We watched them on the overview and then did a waterfall walk to where the pups spend their first months. Unfortunately, they are about 3 months old now and we saw them at the colony not the waterfall. Still a nice short walk.

(The Ohau seal colony.  We are on a lookout looking down.  Notice the seal pups in the pool practicing swimming in the center)

(This is where the seal pups are born and stay the first few months.  Pretty nice nursery huh?  They are a little to old to be there now, but what a place to grow up)

(The peninsula seal colony.  There are FOUR seals in this picture, can you spot them?)

Then we met our guide for our tour. We got some life jackets that were unnecessary but for insurance reasons, wind jackets and loaded up into a van to the one sandy beach on the island. The peddle kayaks were super comfy and had nice back support. It was like peddling a recombant (SP?) bike SEE THE VIDEO HERE. You went super fast with minimal effort. We did have a scare when we got a rock but it worked easy. Now I want one!! Did I mention we kayaked passed another seal colony and saw the sun setting from the ocean??

(This is the paddle kayak outside the isite which caught our eye.  Notice the sea kayak has the paddles underneath it that propel the kayak)

(Cec and I give this activity 2 thumbs up!)

(Enjoying the sunset)

(This is the view from the ocean looking in)

Day 9- March 5-

The next day we headed to a Paula she'll factory to see how they turn the Paula (a mussel like animal) into amazing jewelry. We picked up a few things as the prices were good as well! We drove out to another seal colony and walked around on the seabed as it was low tide, feet away from sleeping seals. We also took a walk up to the lookout to see the peninsula and colony from a birds eye view.

(View of kaikoura peninsula and seal colony from the lookout)

Then we did the seal swim that we had had cancel on us the day before. There was a log process of getting wetsuits on (two pieces), socks, hats and fins. I was super excited to see they had prescription goggles for cec and I! So much easier to see! They then herded us into the bus and drove us to bother colony were a guide took us into a boat and into the chilly-but-not-freezing-so-worth-it sea water. After that was the amazing experience of watching seals swim, flip and play with each other inches in front of you. Mind you, we were not allowed to touch them but holy crap did we get close. I shared a moment with one were we looked at each other cocked our heads then I would mimic the seal and that went on for like 10 seconds. Notably, they have that third eyelid that is clear and their eyes bug out under water so they look different. Even just seeing them on the rocks (there were football sized pups there too!) was amazing. I was shocking exhausted when we were done. During the swim I was energized and excited but once in the boat fatigued and cold. Lol, shows you how quick perspective changes things huh? Cec admitted even he was tired after all we were swimming in the ocean swells for over two hours! After that, we changed into dry clothes and drove to picton as we were on the end leg of our journey!

(These aren't our pictures unfortuantyl.  We used a disposable water camera and it will take 2 weeks to get them back.  These are from the company and give you an idea of what its like.)

(We stopped at this actually seriously famous roadside bbq)

(And tried ALL THE THINGS.  Including paua patties, whitebait fritters, fish, and crayfish (lobster) as well as mussels)

Day 10/ March 6-

Today is really the winding down of our journey. We got up and found out that our ferry was delayed so we are breakfast as subway and boarded the interislander ferry at 11am instead of 10. We arrived in port around 2:30. We spent a little extra to be in the private area with the food and drinks and extra nice seating with private toilets. I enjoyed the little luxury ;). After we disembarked, Cec grabbed our luggage and took a taxi to our car. Honestly, the ferry luggage service and ferry was very fast and pleasant much more than airplane. 

(Outside on the top of the giant ferry)

(Notice, out the back of the boat are the freight cars.  Note the cows in the freight cars)

After getting to the car we went to the dreamworks animation exhibition in the te pappa museum. Very interesting. It portrayed how they work through the cage actress, world and story including sound. Huge displays, many interactive, showing how they make moves. Super cool. Then we stopped at the Wellington game store. Then we drove home, stopping for dinner at a South Indian place in Palmerston North called arranged marriage. We are planning on crossfit at 5:30am so that's going to sting but it's back to real life! Our trip is over!! For the record- it was amazing!

(Kung fu panda yeah!)

(Example of one of the displays, the mock ups of kung fu panda)

Cecil: I was excited to find a south indian restaurant in a town nearby! So I finally had an arranged marriage!

Ten days in South Island! Part 1

Day 1/Feb 26-

This was basically a travel day. We started this day early at crossfit at 5:30am. After that sweat fest we ran home and grabbed a shower and breakfast and headed out for our three hour drive to Wellington to grab our flight. You may be asking "why not just fly out of Whanganui"? Well it's a lot cheaper like a lot to go to the bigger city it saved us a boatload. Like flying out of Pittsburgh vs Erie PA. Anyway, we flew out after grabbing a boring lunch at he airport at 12:30 underneath a huge sculpture of Gollum (from Lord of the Rings). Landed an hour later in Christchurch.

Now, Christchurch is one of the bigger cities in the South Island, if not the largest. We arranged a pickup at the airport to our motel which was perfect. Tiny, clean and cheap! We threw our luggage down and picked a cab to the international Antarctic center.

(Notice the adorable sign)

The international antarctic center is pretty much what it sounds like. It's the tourist face of the super important jumping point of the antarctic teams. Christchurch is where all the airplanes fly out of to go south to the encampments. The center itself is what you would expect. Very informative and well laid out exhibits about how they live, what they eat, sealife, hardships, and challenges (everything from how to travel to how tj take pictures after all everything freezes!!)

Notably, they had an "experience a typical Antarctic Storm area". To be honest it reminded me of the bad windy and cold days in Erie and Buffalo. It only hit -3 with the wind chill! I'm sure in real life it's much worse. They also had a super adorable little blue penguin exhibit!!! We caught a feeding time making it even better. Now little blue penguins are native to New Zealand not the antarctic but who cares? All of them were injured and unable to be released back into the wild. For example, one penguin had to be held on someone's lap and hand fed because his beak and side of his face had been hit by a propeller and he needed help feeding. Super sad and super adorable. 

(BRRR! Get in the igloo during the "storm")

(We got to stand on both poles, lol see?)

(The keeper feeding the penguin who couldn't eat without help because of beak damage)

We spent a couple hours there then walked a few blocks until we found a place to grab some dinner. Dinner was a place called Mexicales which is the Kiwi version of  chipotle. You pick the meat and insides. We also stopped at countdown (grocery store) for some fruit an sold soda before calling a taxi and heading back. We got a super crazy taxi driver who ended up turning around in the far left in front of two lanes of traffic- and then proceeded to do a U-Turn across two lanes of traffic! So happy to get out of that cab! We hit the sack early as we were both tired and had to get up early the next day!

Ps. every person we encountered literally asked us about Donald Trump and basically what the heck was wrong with people. It's crazy how interested and how difficult it is to explain American politics to people!
#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain

Day 2/ Feb 27-

Got up at 6:30 to quickly dress and then repack the suitcases to meet the taxi at driver at 7:00 am. We got driven to the train station for the Trans-alpine train. This is a 5 hour train trip across the southern alps and takes you from Christchurch on the east coats to Greymouth on the west coast. Beautiful scenery!! Now it was gorgeous and the commentary they had was interesting but both cec and I took a nap. Especially because it started it rain and the gloom just made the eyes heavy! Still, a great way to travel! 

(Fancy trains!)

(Typical view.  Can you say "awwww"?)

(there were so many rivers/streams and lakes!)

(They had an open air car to take pictures!)

(The train held passengers and freight)

After we got out of the train we headed to the tiny I site to pick up our car rental. Now this was perhaps our only disaster moment of the trip. There we waited for over an hour to get our car with a mass of people and no room. It took even loner because an Asian tourist was freaking out over a price discrepancy (apparently when he was outed he insurance was one price but now that is 2016 the insurance price increased and he freaked out something crazy. The place only had one computer so he held the whole thing up screaming at the teller. It was awkward. Also it was $15 more dollars FYI). Anyway we got our keys and went to find the car. Cecil was given terrible directions and ended walking through the rain in the parking lot looking for the car. By the time he found it he was soaked! I will let Cecil described for you the Ford focus below. We hated the car!! 

Cecil:
I was glad that it was a newer model car that didn't have any mechanical problems and was a relatively easy ride.
that being said I WILL NEVER BUY A FORD FOCUS

see how there is NO lever to lift up and lay back, you have to reach behind you and turn this awkward shaped wheel back. this is impossible to do without your hand cramping.
must be a feature put in by rock climbers to improve there hand strength

no gas cap! good thing right? not really because the car would constantly belch out gasoline that would always end up on your clothes
I stopped wearing cologne and just got used to my daily spritz of   Eau de mechanic
and the silly car took 95 octane- which of course is not sold at that many places, but guess what is at a markup? 98 octane!! So it was really expensive to fill up. 

the windshield was angled at a weird angle so no matter what time of day, there was always this annoying glare

 A dashboard that is just a little busy- perfect to fiddle with as you are cruising down a highway at 100km/hr

 

Also the south island is more sparsely populated that the north island, so we  stopped at every gas station and fill up btecause "you never know" 

Anyway, once we got on the road we went from agreement down to Franz Josef Glacier. It was a nice drive for the most part, even though it rained for a lot of it. We did stop at hokitika gorge on the way down. It's a giant board with the swing bridge and approximately a 30 minute walk around. Regrettably, because of all the rain the gorge wasn't the Crystal aquamarine blue that normally is. It was great. Even with the water not being that crazy beautiful blue it was a great walk and we were looking at the rain stopped while we were there. Then it was pretty much a lot of driving until franz joesph glacier. We checked into our hotel and pretty much took a walk around the tiny tiny town. It was mid evening and we had some beautiful views. We also had an early morning as usual on this trip!

(This was the car rental station.  Notice the crazy congestion and enormous amounts of people!)

(Scary swingbridge.  Note the sign that is cut off in the upper left corner.  It says max 6 people)

(Cecil climbing rocks on hokitika gorge)

(typical view during our drive)

Day 3/Feb 28-

Today was all about two things. Hiking on the glacier and a crazy long drive down to the sounds. Let's start with the fact that our hike did not get cancelled there is approximately a 50% cancellation rate due to weather. Now, you get there and they basically make you fill out and read medical questionnaires because it is a semi dangerous physical activity. Then they outfit you with coats, pants (optional), bags, crampons (metal spikes that are attached to your foot aka snow tires for shoes, and gloves and hats of you wanted as well. They weigh you with gear and divide you into groups for the helicopter. Then they toss you into helicopters and fly you into the glaciers. Once there you learn how to put on the crampons and your off! Now thank goodness for crampons! Without them you slid everywhere but once they were on it was as easy as it could be and much more stable. You do have to stire down evenly so all the spikes dig in. You also have to be careful to pick up your feet, as if you don't they can drag and trip you. We hiked a path that took around 2 1/2 hours. It was more difficult than I expected. Your going In and out of crevasses and stairs that our guide cut with an axe. Your feet also get heavy as the crampons are heavy! There were a few places so tiny you had to shuffle step through them and ice was on both sides and you slid through! We did get to fill our water bottle up with the freshest water I've ever had! Great photos(see below). I was sweaty and panting but it was totally worth it!!

(This is the 'town' of Franz Josef.  It was tiny.... you pretty much see all of it)

(When we got up for our morning walk, the Kea (worlds only alpine parrot) were making a fuss on the building)

(Geared up and ready to go!)

(Gecil was super excited for the helicopter ride)

(And we're there!)

(The ice was so pure it was blue and beautiful)

(Here we are squeezing through another crevasse)

(Cecil filling up the water bottle with pure glacier water)

Once done we were ravenous! We had eaten oatmeal and protein powder for breakfast but it was after 1pm by the time we got back! We grabbed a very underwhelming and yet expensive lunch and then started our 8 hour drive to a place called te anu. We stopped 4 separate times as we drove to te anu. Now something important to understand about New Zealand is they have walks/tramps everywhere! They are marked and give an estimated time to walk out and return. Our hotel manager suggested the stops as they all were about 15-20 stops with nice views like lookouts and waterfalls  (SEE A VIDEO HERE OF ONE OF OUR STOPS). It's like "oh my! That's amazing"! Over and over again. With that long of a drive it's nice to get out and stretch. I made some pb&j for a snack and we grabbed a burger at Mackers (McDonald's), because nothing is open after 5!!!!! Anyway, we rolled into our hotel about 11, and we both collapsed into great sleep as the hike and drive made us both ready for naps. 

(driving back we stopped at a beach were people found these white rocks and stacked them.  Cairns (rock stacks) mark the beginning of a good trail in Ireland and represent good fortune in middle eastern culture.... according to google)

(This is an ocean lookout we stopped at that was gorgeous but we HATED.  We termed it sandfly valley.  So many biting sandflys!  They leave a welt that itches for WEEKS)

(Another quick waterfall stop)

Day 4/Feb 29-

Milford sound day! We were bleary eyed but excited when we were picked up at 8am for our Milford Sound tour. Great tour by the way. Our guide was definitely a local and we did about 15 stops on the way to the sound all of which were amazing. Notable the mirror lake was so clear and reflective. Check the pictures out below for more details. Once we got to the boat it was drop dead views all the way. Apparently out theme of lucky weather held out as we had no rain, which it usually does. We saw seals and crested dolphins and tons of waterfalls. Amazing. Then the drive home was pleasant and to be honest both cec and I took a short snooze (it's three hours back). To be honest there isn't a lot to write it was more jaw dropping scenes!

(Mirror lake.  Take a close look at the sign out vs. in the water)

(Cecil at Mirror lake)

(A swing-bridge over a river that leads to a waterfall.  What is up with NZ and these terrifying bridges?!)

(Cec and I at the waterfall.  It was so fast it was white like rapids.  VIDEO LINK HERE)

(Typical scenery on our way to the sound)

(Another waterfall stop, we stopped 15 times lol.  This one was interested because the water made these holes and drain looking areas in the rocks because of the turbulence.)

(A Kea being cheeky in the parking lot ripping the rubber off of cars.  The tour guide described them as "like naughty teenage boys getting into trouble")

(It was COLD!  They gave free tea and coffee on the boat.  It was also bright and sunny, which is unusual.  Apparently it rains over 50% of the time and we got one of the non rainy days.)

(Annndddd Milford sound)

(With HUNDREDS of water falls)

(Here is the one way tunnel we drove though to get to the sound,  Its 2700 meters, through granite.  Apparently, before the tunnel, the post would have to climb up the one side and lower the mail in a bucket down the other!)

(Here is one of the glacial streams we stopped at.  This one we refilled water bottles.  The water was amazing...)

Day 5/ March 1-

Today we went to doubtful sound. You maybe asking why we went with Milford and doubtful sound instead of just one. Mostly it's because we couldn't make a decision. Everyone told us you have to go to Milford the but doubtful is amazing. And fact a lot of people said doubtful  was better than Milford… but Milford is more famous. Doubtful was for sure more remote and less commercial. We had to get picked up at a safer parking facility, driven to a lake, ferried across a lake, then driven on a grave road (in a conservation area that has a levy for each person that crosses it) to finally get to the sound.we also had a much longer boat ride in the sound. It was about three hours going in a different arms of the sound. We also got to see dolphins in the sound which was cool. At one point they had everyone stand still and shut he engines off so you could experience the quiet nothingness of the place, which was serene. After that we were back in the bus and dirt road and ferry and then to the car park.

(It was an early, but drop dead gorgeous morning)

(Cec and I at the top of the gravel road looking into the sound)

(Tree Avalanches were common.  They leave the granite rock faces.  The beech trees grow so heavy, and they have such shallow roots, that they fall and usually take others with them)

(Cec and I on the boat in doubtful sound!)

(One of cecils fav pics, with the kiwi flag in the foreground and the sound in the back)

(We were blessed to have bright weather here too.  Apparently the sounds are notorious for rain.  Our boat/bus driver kept admonishing how "great it is to have a nice day for a change!")

We drove to queenstown and experience furs burger for lunch. Good burger crazy busy place. Then we drove a place called wanaka. Wanaka is about half way between queenstown and Christchurch and we had a quest to do there the next day. That evening we took a walk down to the lake as we wanted to stretch our legs before bed. It had been a great couple of days and we were only halfway done!

(Split the fergburger!)

(Here is a picture from the lookout as we left Queenstown. Yes, this is what it looks like)