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| From Nelson Lakes National Park |
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| From Nelson Lakes National Park |
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| From Nelson Lakes National Park |
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| From Nelson Lakes National Park |
Link to the full gallery ! !
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Nelson Lakes photos are here
I make special for you. Enjoy.
Sunset at St Arnaud.
Angelus Hut and Lake Angelus.
Milky Way over Mt Angelus.
Lake Rotoroa in the morning.
Link to the full gallery ! !
Link to the full gallery ! !
Thursday, April 16, 2009
And now we are in Picton
Hi everyone!
We just finished up a four-day excursion in Nelson Lakes National Park and it was a trip of extremes- it involved my favorite and least favorite days of hiking, as well as some extreme weather, and extremely crowded (and then uncrowded) huts.
The first day was probably my favourite day of hiking that we have done in New Zealand. The sky was pretty clear for 9 km of ridge walking, which was really cool. We passed along three different basins, all speckled with snow. The moutains were definitely the most epic-looking ones that we have come across in New Zealand. The hut we stayed at, Angelus Hut, was in an amazing locataion. It was in a basin right on a lake surrounded by high peaks.
On the second day, we had the worst weather we have had for hiking. The visibility was probably less than 5m at times and there was rain and strong winds. Luckily, we had planned to stay at Angelus hut for a second night and just do a side trip that day, so we cancelled the side trip and hung out in the hut all day. We we also in a very crowded hut that night - there were 26 beds and about 36 people because it was Easter weekend and there are two weeks of school holidays right now. I was ready to get the heck out of there the next morning.
On day three, we woke up to amazingly clear skies and hardly any wind. We did another ridge walk followed by a very very steep, muddy, and forested downhill that had me swearing by the end. At the end of the hike, we were greeted by the emptiest hut we have been to - 36 beds and only six people, so that was a real treat.
Day four was probably my least favorite day of hiking we have done on the trip. It was 7.5 hours of stepping over roots, around trees, and going up and down little valleys, through the forest the entire time. The end could not have come soon enough.
This was our last hiking trip on the south island and we are heading to the north island the day after tomorrow.
Cheers,
Erin
We just finished up a four-day excursion in Nelson Lakes National Park and it was a trip of extremes- it involved my favorite and least favorite days of hiking, as well as some extreme weather, and extremely crowded (and then uncrowded) huts.
The first day was probably my favourite day of hiking that we have done in New Zealand. The sky was pretty clear for 9 km of ridge walking, which was really cool. We passed along three different basins, all speckled with snow. The moutains were definitely the most epic-looking ones that we have come across in New Zealand. The hut we stayed at, Angelus Hut, was in an amazing locataion. It was in a basin right on a lake surrounded by high peaks.
On the second day, we had the worst weather we have had for hiking. The visibility was probably less than 5m at times and there was rain and strong winds. Luckily, we had planned to stay at Angelus hut for a second night and just do a side trip that day, so we cancelled the side trip and hung out in the hut all day. We we also in a very crowded hut that night - there were 26 beds and about 36 people because it was Easter weekend and there are two weeks of school holidays right now. I was ready to get the heck out of there the next morning.
On day three, we woke up to amazingly clear skies and hardly any wind. We did another ridge walk followed by a very very steep, muddy, and forested downhill that had me swearing by the end. At the end of the hike, we were greeted by the emptiest hut we have been to - 36 beds and only six people, so that was a real treat.
Day four was probably my least favorite day of hiking we have done on the trip. It was 7.5 hours of stepping over roots, around trees, and going up and down little valleys, through the forest the entire time. The end could not have come soon enough.
This was our last hiking trip on the south island and we are heading to the north island the day after tomorrow.
Cheers,
Erin
Friday, April 10, 2009
Abel Tasman Track photos
Here they are, enjoy.
>>>Link to the Gallery! <<<
Remains of Tonga Quarry
The beach at Mutton Cove
yay beaches!
>>>Link to the Gallery! <<<
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| From Abel Tasman Coast Track |
Remains of Tonga Quarry
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| From Abel Tasman Coast Track |
The beach at Mutton Cove
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| From Abel Tasman Coast Track |
yay beaches!
Abel Tasman Coast Track
Greetings from sunny Nelson!
Yesterday we finished up the Abel Tasman Coast Track. The track was very beautiful. It was five days of meandering through forest and across beautiful beaches.
The Track:
The track was pretty much a walk in the park compared to the hikes we have done. The Department of Conservation doesn't even recommend that you wear boots for the walk, just running shoes. I also read a magazine article about a man pushing a stroller with his nine month old in it, and I believe that it could be done pretty easily. The track alternated between walking through forest and along very beautiful (and nearly deserted) beaches. We were able to take lots of time to lie in the sun and swim in the ocean during the day. It was a pretty relaxing time.
The Weather:
We had pretty good weather, but we did end up drenched in the pouring rain one day. It was getting pretty depressing, but then we stopped at our campsite and the sun came out and everything dried off and we were able to go swimming. It was also pretty cold on the last day of the hike, and there was snow on the tops of the nearby hills/mountains, but we survived.
The Wildlife:
There were some really cute seals playing in the surf by our last campsite and it was pretty cool to watch them play.
We also had our first (live) possum sighting. Previously, we have only seen dead possums on the road. The Department of Conservation recommends that you keep your food in your tent so that the possums cannot get into it. We don't really have room in our tent for our food, so we kept it in a airtight bag in the vestibule. During the night, something (possum or mouse or rat) chewed through two bags to get to the food, but didn't manage to steal anything.
Also, the sandflies continue to gnaw away at us. They were not as horrible as in Fiordland or the West Coast, but maybe that is because we have moved up from Deep Woods Off (25% DEET) to a lotion containing 40% DEET. We are both covered in bites still though. I even have one inside of my ear.
The Toe Report:
Jay is now minus two big toenails. Hopefully he does not post any pictures, because they look worse than before, but apparently they feel a lot better, and that is what counts, right?
Our next move:
We are spending today (Good Friday) in Nelson. Everything is closed so we are just going to be hanging out in the hostel. Tomorrow or Sunday we will head down to Nelson Lakes National Park to do our last hike on the South Island. I hear that there are beautiful lakes and snow capped mountains there, so it should be pretty beautiful.
That is all for now. Stay tuned for Jay's pictures of the awesome beaches. And have a hoppy Easter everyone!
Yesterday we finished up the Abel Tasman Coast Track. The track was very beautiful. It was five days of meandering through forest and across beautiful beaches.
The Track:
The track was pretty much a walk in the park compared to the hikes we have done. The Department of Conservation doesn't even recommend that you wear boots for the walk, just running shoes. I also read a magazine article about a man pushing a stroller with his nine month old in it, and I believe that it could be done pretty easily. The track alternated between walking through forest and along very beautiful (and nearly deserted) beaches. We were able to take lots of time to lie in the sun and swim in the ocean during the day. It was a pretty relaxing time.
The Weather:
We had pretty good weather, but we did end up drenched in the pouring rain one day. It was getting pretty depressing, but then we stopped at our campsite and the sun came out and everything dried off and we were able to go swimming. It was also pretty cold on the last day of the hike, and there was snow on the tops of the nearby hills/mountains, but we survived.
The Wildlife:
There were some really cute seals playing in the surf by our last campsite and it was pretty cool to watch them play.
We also had our first (live) possum sighting. Previously, we have only seen dead possums on the road. The Department of Conservation recommends that you keep your food in your tent so that the possums cannot get into it. We don't really have room in our tent for our food, so we kept it in a airtight bag in the vestibule. During the night, something (possum or mouse or rat) chewed through two bags to get to the food, but didn't manage to steal anything.
Also, the sandflies continue to gnaw away at us. They were not as horrible as in Fiordland or the West Coast, but maybe that is because we have moved up from Deep Woods Off (25% DEET) to a lotion containing 40% DEET. We are both covered in bites still though. I even have one inside of my ear.
The Toe Report:
Jay is now minus two big toenails. Hopefully he does not post any pictures, because they look worse than before, but apparently they feel a lot better, and that is what counts, right?
Our next move:
We are spending today (Good Friday) in Nelson. Everything is closed so we are just going to be hanging out in the hostel. Tomorrow or Sunday we will head down to Nelson Lakes National Park to do our last hike on the South Island. I hear that there are beautiful lakes and snow capped mountains there, so it should be pretty beautiful.
That is all for now. Stay tuned for Jay's pictures of the awesome beaches. And have a hoppy Easter everyone!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Happy Birthday Siblings!
Happy birthday to our siblings who are turning 21!
Have fun!
Love,
Erin and Jay
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Avalanche Peak photos
Good evening, folks!
Whee! We've been in Arthur's Pass in the middle of the Southern Alps for a few days now, waiting for the weather to improve so we could climb up a popular day hike to Avalanche Peak. Well today was the day and yes sir it was a great hike. Over one vertical kilometre was climbed, and over one vertical kilometre was descended. The climb in many places was semi-scrambling, which I appreciated. It was quite steep, no bullshit... we climbed it in 3 hours but we really took our time. I think I could have done it in 2. Yeah. Well despite today's forecast, it was quite cloudy at the top, and we waited at the summit for over an hour for the clouds to go away, but they wouldn't! We were getting cold so we started descending, and not long after things really started clearing up! Oh well, we were still above the treeline at that time and got nice views. Did I mention the keas? NO? WELL.
These birds are hilarious and awesome. They are green with bright red armpits, the only mountain parrot in the world, exclusive to NZ, very intelligent, social, and curious, and in no way shy around people. And they are SO BAD. If you're not careful/smarter than a kea you will defintely get your things that you left lying on the ground either chewed up, stolen, or both. At one spot above the treeline I took off my pack and was changing camera lens and while I did this I got surrounded by 5 very curious kea, who all wanted to know what was in my bag or what my boots tasted like. Fighting off 5 kea is pretty challenging, but don't worry, they don't fly at you or anything. Once they're where they want to be they walk and hop around.
Link to the AVALANCHE PEAK Gallery
A sample:
Erin faces a kea...
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we drive to the northern part of the west coast, where we will hike and camp on the end part of the Heaphy track for one night. Then it's eastward bound where we will before long do the Abel Tasman Coastal Track!
Whee! We've been in Arthur's Pass in the middle of the Southern Alps for a few days now, waiting for the weather to improve so we could climb up a popular day hike to Avalanche Peak. Well today was the day and yes sir it was a great hike. Over one vertical kilometre was climbed, and over one vertical kilometre was descended. The climb in many places was semi-scrambling, which I appreciated. It was quite steep, no bullshit... we climbed it in 3 hours but we really took our time. I think I could have done it in 2. Yeah. Well despite today's forecast, it was quite cloudy at the top, and we waited at the summit for over an hour for the clouds to go away, but they wouldn't! We were getting cold so we started descending, and not long after things really started clearing up! Oh well, we were still above the treeline at that time and got nice views. Did I mention the keas? NO? WELL.
These birds are hilarious and awesome. They are green with bright red armpits, the only mountain parrot in the world, exclusive to NZ, very intelligent, social, and curious, and in no way shy around people. And they are SO BAD. If you're not careful/smarter than a kea you will defintely get your things that you left lying on the ground either chewed up, stolen, or both. At one spot above the treeline I took off my pack and was changing camera lens and while I did this I got surrounded by 5 very curious kea, who all wanted to know what was in my bag or what my boots tasted like. Fighting off 5 kea is pretty challenging, but don't worry, they don't fly at you or anything. Once they're where they want to be they walk and hop around.
Link to the AVALANCHE PEAK Gallery
A sample:
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| From Arthur's Pass, Avalanche Peak |
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we drive to the northern part of the west coast, where we will hike and camp on the end part of the Heaphy track for one night. Then it's eastward bound where we will before long do the Abel Tasman Coastal Track!
Fox Glacier Pictures
Here we go! I personally hand-picked the best photos I had from our glacier trek and have uploaded and now am presenting them to YOU, yes YOU for an exclusive engagement with GLACIER PHOTO 2009...
BOOK NOW!! (Gallery)
See what's inside...
Jay On Ice
Glacier no obstacle for Erin!
Yes, this was for real
BOOK NOW!! (Gallery)
See what's inside...
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| From Fox Glacier |
Jay On Ice
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| From Fox Glacier |
Glacier no obstacle for Erin!
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| From Fox Glacier |
Yes, this was for real
Earth Hour
At the Franz Josef YHA, they had an Earth Hour event: free BBQ (although it was vegetarian... oxymoron if you ask me!) and candle-light dinner for it. Pretty cool. Here's what it looked like.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Rees Dart Tracks and Cascade Saddle
These photos are much more pleasant than that toe one, I promise! (sorry)
Link to the Gallery
Some samples...
Rees valley
Dart Glacier
A view from Cascade Saddle. Mount Aspiring is the snowy peak on the left.
Link to the Gallery
Some samples...
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| From Rees Dart Track |
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| From Rees Dart Track |
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| From Rees Dart Track |
"My toes felt just like two balloons..."
My entire big toenails are going to fall off eventually, and they hurt when walking and standing a bit... but the worst is over, because both my toes looked like this by the fourth day on the Rees Dart track, and even bigger on the fifth (last day):
Giant blisters formed under my nails, lifting them up, and stretching the skin around them like big balloons. Fortunately they weren't bloody, and the nails stayed attached. Walking in my boots was manageable (thankfully), but my sandals just couldn't fit my grossly enlarged toes.
What happened?? The first day of the track had several stream fords resulting in sopping wet feet/socks/boots, and I was wearing 2 layers of socks for comfort. Things expanded, there was less room for poor little toes, and the terrain was pretty technical in places. The toenails were already tender at the end of the first day. Second day was dry but I still had 2 layers of socks on (didn't know what I was getting myself into) and the terrain was much more technical with plenty of downhill. End of 3rd day, there was some swelling under the nails, enough to make walking around painful (especially in my sandals which cover the big toe). After 4th day they ballooned (see picture).
It's much better now though. The day after we got off the hike (yesterday), I went to the medical centre at Queenstown to get it looked at. The doctor offered to drain it – purely symptomatic – I said yes please! It was a very technical procedure: she heated up the end of a paper clip over a flame until red hot, then put it through the middle of the nail. Squirt! Ahh, much better. The student nurse then did the other one. Easy enough... now I know how it's done. I could do it again myself if I had to! Things are still kind of sore of course, but I'm not hobbling around anymore, and I should be good for tomorrow's day of hiking up Fox Glacier on NZ's West Coast (guided, of course), and hopefully good for the next tramp.
Giant blisters formed under my nails, lifting them up, and stretching the skin around them like big balloons. Fortunately they weren't bloody, and the nails stayed attached. Walking in my boots was manageable (thankfully), but my sandals just couldn't fit my grossly enlarged toes.
What happened?? The first day of the track had several stream fords resulting in sopping wet feet/socks/boots, and I was wearing 2 layers of socks for comfort. Things expanded, there was less room for poor little toes, and the terrain was pretty technical in places. The toenails were already tender at the end of the first day. Second day was dry but I still had 2 layers of socks on (didn't know what I was getting myself into) and the terrain was much more technical with plenty of downhill. End of 3rd day, there was some swelling under the nails, enough to make walking around painful (especially in my sandals which cover the big toe). After 4th day they ballooned (see picture).
It's much better now though. The day after we got off the hike (yesterday), I went to the medical centre at Queenstown to get it looked at. The doctor offered to drain it – purely symptomatic – I said yes please! It was a very technical procedure: she heated up the end of a paper clip over a flame until red hot, then put it through the middle of the nail. Squirt! Ahh, much better. The student nurse then did the other one. Easy enough... now I know how it's done. I could do it again myself if I had to! Things are still kind of sore of course, but I'm not hobbling around anymore, and I should be good for tomorrow's day of hiking up Fox Glacier on NZ's West Coast (guided, of course), and hopefully good for the next tramp.
UPDATE: since writing this post things aren't as great as I thought. some skin broke around the front of the toe, so it's partially open now. boooo. hopefully the toenail stays on during some upcoming hiking, but... I'm having my doubts
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