10/7: Back in Brisbane

We got up insanely early this morning- and if Nicole hadn't set a second alarm we would have missed our airport shuttle because our room blew a fuse or something and lost power.  Got back to Brisbane and saw Qantas' new A380 doing some testing I guess- my first time seeing one of them.

Back to the grind for a week until Nicole's mom and sister come and we go to Cairns to scuba dive.

The pictures are started to get loaded on Nicole's picture site (link to the right), but it will take a bit for them all to get up there- we took about 500.  They're all worth having a look at.

10/6: Christchurch

This morning turned out to be quite an adventure for me. Wells Fargo has been doing maintenance and I think it might have something to do with my card not working for me, even though I'm nowhere near my credit line or anything. So after getting up with Nicole to get some gas for the car, I went to the aiport to return it.

But I didn't have any cash on me like I thought I did, and my card wouldn't work, and my phone is out of credit until I recharge it tomorrow in Brisbane. So I ended up heading off and taking an urban hike back to the city. Christchurch isn't all that big- about 400,000 people, but I still saw more of it than I thought I would. After about 2 hours I made it back, and we headed out into the city. We went to Cathedral Square, the focal point of the town, and headed to the Arts Centre from there. We saw a bunch of shops and galleries with all kinds of art and food and books and such.

This is a very old feeling town- lots of stone churches and colleges, even though its really only about 130 years old or so- about as old as Denver. It has a distinctly English feel about it. Its known as the Garden City, and its evident- especially right now in the heart of spring, with tulips and daffodils in full swing. They're very pretty.

We also tried a famous NZ Meat Pie. We went to a bakery that is one of the best in the country- they were the bakery of the year in 2002. We had steak pies that were absolutely delicious. There's a store in Vail that sells them and they're expanding to Denver- I'm pretty excited.

Tonight we meet up with Leslie and Brittany for dinner and a drink (Three Boys Pils- a local brew and the best I've had in the southern hemisphere) before going to bed and getting up for our 3:30am shuttle to the airport for our 6:15am flight. At least we have the whole day once we're back in Brisbane?

All in all this has been an absolutely incredible trip- the weather worked out absolutely perfectly, our itinerary packed a lot into the 7 days, and we saw some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth. I'm already plotting my return, or several. Perhaps we'll invest in property here down the road- I wouldn't mind coming here once a year. The exchange rate is favorable, the people friendly, the crowds nonexistent, and landscape unlike any other. I can't wait to see the North Island as well. One day...

10/5: Queenstown to Christchurch

Today we got up and got some breakfast in Queenstown at a place that Nicole read about called Vudu Cafe. Turns out it was voted the best cafe in Queenstown 2 years running. I got a croissant with a caramel- almond kind of filling- it was like a coffee cake, and Nicole got eggs benedict with smoked salmon and capers that was fantastic.

We walked around Queenstown a little bit more before heading north towards Omarama, where we thought we were going to stay the night. We stopped off at a number of different wineries in the famous Otago region of New Zealand. I'm still learning to like wine, so it was still whites for me, but the Rieslings from the area were fantastic. We visited Amisfield, Gibbston Valley, Peregrine, and Akarua wineries. I think Peregrine had the best wine and Amisfield the coolest building and location.

We also visited Gibbston Valley cheeses, and sampled cow, goat, and sheep's milk cheeses, appropriate for the surroundings. They were absolutely fantastic.

Continuing the tasting trend of the day, we stopped off at a local produce shop in Cromwell where Nicole finally found a glass of Granny Smith Apple Juice- freshly juiced and bright green. We also tasted local Schnapps and infused olive oils.

We got to Omarama at about 6, but it was a really small town with pretty much nothing open- not even the hotel, they left us our keys in the door. It felt like there should be Dolly Parton playing from the PA- shag carpet, pink walls...

So we decided rather than be really bored in Omarama we'd drive the extra 3-4 hours to Christchurch since it would stay light long enough for us to see Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo. Mt. Cook was really impressive, and the Southern Alps in the area looked straight out of Europe. Lake Tekapo is famous for its bright color- like Lake Louise- but the lighting didn't really allow us to see it that well.

We got to Christchurch and found an internet cafe to book our hotel for an extra night, and got into the hotel at around 11 and found a quick bite to eat. The hotel we're staying at is a new concept, and definitely unique. The rooms are really small, and we don't have a window, but the layout of the room and the amenities make it feel much more comfortable than it should. There's a mood lighting system to put you to sleep and wake you up, mood channels and a whole light and tv and sound wake up sequence, a night light coming out from under the bed, and in integrated control interface. Its great for us as younger travelers and would be excellent for a business traveler- free internet to boot, which is basically unheard of here. Its a lot like a nice cruise ship cabin.

10/4: Milford Sound

Today was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had.

We got up and it was raining, which ended up being a good thing- I'll explain that in a minute. We got some breakfast and headed out towards Te Anau. Between Queenstown and Te Anau was (relatively) unexciting. But between Te Anau and Milford Sound was a very incredible drive.

Within a span of under 2 hours, we saw pretty much every kind of terrain you could ever encounter. Driving up into the Fiordland, there were beatiful lakes, valleys, rivers, and cliffs, but it got even better. The closer we got, the more incredible the scenery became. Pictures and words can do nothing to describe what we saw- remember earlier how I was talking about how cool the glaciers were, and mentioned Canada and the Rockies, etc.? Forget all of that, Norway, the Alps, the Rockies, the Tatras, they all pale in comparison to the Cleddau Valley and Milford Sound. We saw thousands, literally thousands of waterfalls. And mountains that were some of the highest in the world in terms of prominence, cliffs tens of thousands of feet tall, and glaciers, and I'm at a complete loss for words. The prettiest place I've been lucky to see, hands down. It was totally overwhelming.

It was sort of emotional, it almost moved me to tears, and that was before we took the 2 hour cruise around Milford Sound (actually a fjord). We went all the way to to the Tasman Sea along the length of the fiord, and since it had rained in the morning, it actually made the experience better because there were hundreds of temporary waterfalls coming right down the mountainsides. The difference of about 100 yards from inside and outside the main channel meant 4 foot waves on the Tasman- biggest waves I've ever been on. We even saw some NZ Fur Seals along the rocky edges.

In the afternoon it cleared for our drive back, and we stopped to see the Chasm, which again I can't even begin to describe- its sort of like a waterfall, sort of like a bunch of miniature caves. We also saw the Mirror Lakes- so smooth they reflect nearly perfectly the mountain range and valley behind them.

All in all this was the most awesome scenery I've ever seen, I'm very drained from the whole day.

Be sure to check the blog and read through all the posts on Tuesday- I'm going to flush them all out a bit. Pictures and videos will also come when we're back in Australia, we only have brief access periods while we're travelling. Check on Tuesday, they'll be up.

10/3: Queenstown

Today we got up in the morning and took some pictures around Wanaka before heading to Queenstown. The drive wasn't all that spectacular (relatively speaking) until we got to the top of the pass and were all of the sudden looking thousand of feet down at the valley at our feet. The road was insanely twisty- Lombard street has nothing on the bottom of this road. We got into Queenstown and finished setting up our activity for later in the afternoon.

Then we went over to the Gondola for a luge run and panoramic views over the lake and city to the Remarkables and the Eyre Range. For those of you that don't know, the Lord of The Rings movies were filmed somewhere around here. I don't actually know anything about the movie, but it gives you an idea of the scenery. The views were incredible, and the luge was fun- sort of a mix between a sled and a go kart. But it had nothing on what we did next.

After a bus ride about 20 minutes out of town, Nicole and I were strapped together and to a giant rubber band and JUMPED OFF A BRIDGE. It was a surreal experience. I don't actually remember jumping off, just all of the sudden falling. It was sensory overload for the first 2 or 3 seconds until the bungy started to catch- I'm sure it was windy but I didn't feel anything. It happened really fast- from check in and weighing to getting strapped in and jumping off and being collected by the little dinghy- which is probably a good thing. Definitely a unique experience. Links to pictures to come tomorrow.

We then went back into town and looked at a handful of restaurants before Nicole remembered reading about one earlier in the trip. We couldn't find it so we looked in a phone book to figure out where it was- good thing we did too. The meal was awesome, as was the wine and the views- right across the lake to the mountains.

The restaurant prides itself on the total experience, and everything was paired and matched superbly. We had rabbit ravioli with braised daikon radish and an orange- Grand Marnier sauce; Pork Belly with sauteed bok choy and a sweet balsamic- some sort of weird NZ fruit gastrique; white miso risotto with artichoke and wild mushrooms (which was a perfect fit for the NZ Sauvigon Blanc I had), and a mango creme brulee with black sesame ice cream, which sounds weirder than it actually was. Presentation, service, bread, water, wine, view, they nailed it, and I think it was the best meal I've ever had as far as the consistency of quality and creativity- plus, in another feat of discount magic, we got it for 50% off since we were within the first 7 table before 7PM. Ridiculous.

Milford Sound tomorrow- this trip has left no disappointments yet.

10/2: Otago: Wanaka

Today we got up before the crack of dawn to drive to Wanaka.  It was too early for anything to be open and they don’t have pay at the pump that works with any of our cards, so we couldn’t fill up at Franz Josef or Fox Glacier, so I had to strategically drive to make sure we got all the way to Haast, 143km away.  To say we pulled into that gas station on fumes would be overestimating our gas level.  I think we were a couple more turns of the engine short of running out of gas.  Since I had driven slower on the way to Haast, I drove the freaking wheels off of the car the rest of the way to Wanaka, except for a couple brief picture spots.  I’m pretty good at the whole left side of the road, right side of the car thing by now.  I don’t really have to think about it at all. Joe would love some of these roads- they’d make incredible rally stages.  In fact, even when the scenery is just farmland or forest, the roads themselves are quite an experience for me.

 

One stop we made to take pictures was just after Haast, as the road turned to go up into the mountains of Mount Aspiring National Park.  The Gates of Haast are these huge rapids of bright blue water coming down from the mountains.  Up above, the steep mountain had a waterfall about 1000 feet up that was probably 200 feet tall.  It was probably the coolest place I’ve seen in New Zealand so far, which means that its among the greatest places I’ve ever been.  The forests we’ve been driving through for the past couple days are unlike anywhere I’ve ever been-  very dense with all kinds of trees, bushes, and tons of ferns growing everywhere.

 

After roaring into Wanaka to drop Leslie off with seconds to spare, Nicole and I grabbed a quick snack of fantastic pasta salads, and walked around the resort town.  It has the feeling of a town like Breckenridge or Banff, but the scenery is much different- a huge lake surrounded by mountains on all sides.  The mountains here are a little more like the Canadian Rockies- barren, stark, and not quite as green as they were in Franz Josef and Hokitika.  Our hotel tonight is a 4-star Grand Mercure- once again the loophole in the online promotion has worked tremendously in our favor.  There’s 3 large hot soaking pools and great views out our balcony.

 

In the afternoon we went to Puzzling World and navigated the great maze- 1.5km and 2 levels of mazes with the goal of getting to each corner before finding your way back to the start.  I think we went to each about 3 times by the time we were finally done- we fell right into the average time of 45 minutes.  We then sat down and did some puzzles they had in the café- bad idea, it only furthered the frustration of the maze and didn’t come with the satisfaction of completion like the maze did.  Lousy puzzles.

 

We went back to the hotel and Nicole was really tired so she took a nap and I drove over to the Wanaka Beerworks for a brewry tour and tasting, but sadly it was closed.  Tonight we're going to eat some gourmet pizza (yum) and swim in the hot pools before heading to Queenstown for Bungy Jumping, maybe some wineries, and other activities tomorrow.

 

 

10/1: Westland- Hokitika and Franz Josef

Today we got up and visited a couple stores and galleries in Hokitika in the morning.  We were planning on playing the whole day by ear because it was raining, but it turned out not to be a big deal, it just sort of rained for literally a couple minutes and then stop a couple times an hour, all day.  Turns out it rains 240 days a year here- pretty much the opposite of Brisbane and Denver. We saw some beautiful Jade carvings and jewelry- Hokitika is famous for its “greenstone” nephrite Jade.

Then we drove down to Franz Josef, following the coast every now and then.  It was another incredible drive.  We stopped at a number of locations to take pictures- including a really pretty little lake.  It was the first day of Salmon season there according to the sign- I’m sure the salmon and trout from this lake are fantastic.

 

We got to Franz Josef and saw the glacier in the distance as we drove into town.  Since it’s the reason we’re here, we drove up to the parking lot and did a couple of short walks to view points-  make sure to check Nicole’s Flickr for pictures of everything. Seeing a glacier in the middle of lush rainforest was really weird. The valley was spectacular, with huge mountains and waterfalls- this was even more impressive than the Jonkoping glacier in Norway.

 

Since it was too late in the day to do a guided tour on the glacier itself, we went to the Hukawai Glacier Centre to do some indoor Ice Climbing- it’s the 3^rd largest of only 13 such facilities in the world.  Nicole and I geared up and gave it our best- its really tiring on your hands especially as a beginner, even though you’re supposed to use your feet more- it was a lot like rock climbing, but I think I like it a little better.  Afterwards we got some dinner, a quick soak in the hot tub, and headed to bed- we had to get up really early the next day to get to Wanaka in time for Leslie to catch her bus back to Christchurch

New Zealand: September 30- Brisbane-Christchurch-Hokitika

Our first day in NZ was…interesting to say the least.  We woke up really early to get to the airport for our 7:45 flight, went through immigration to get OUT of the country (seems a little strange), and flew to Christchurch.  Our flight was about 30 minutes late, but customs was surprisingly easy and we got the rental car place promptly to wait for almost 50 minutes before our car was finally ready, even though I pre-checked in online a few days earlier, so we got off a little later than expected. 

 

Having a day of driving under my belt from a couple weeks ago really helped- I got into the groove pretty quickly, by days’ end I didn’t have to think a whole lot about it.   We went towards the city center for a bit to try and find a place to grab a bite to eat and for Nicole to look at a jacket, but since Christchurch really isn’t all that big, despite being the center hub of the South Island, we were downtown before we knew it.  We stopped at a deli and had some sandwiches, coffee, and a nice conversation with they guys working there.  The map we had wasn’t very detailed, so the directions that they gave us to head out towards the highway we needed to be on didn’t end up working so well.  Despite being small, Christchurch is not easy to navigate behind the wheel. 

 

After we finally got on the right track, we stopped at a big Costco-like grocery store to load up on snacks for the road for the week, and were shocked at how cheap food was, especially compared to Australia.  It was comparable or maybe even a little less than what we’d pay in the states. 

 

Then we headed out on the “highway” towards the West Coast.  It’s a 2 lane road, and all of the bridges are one lane, with signs letting you know who has the right of way.  Guess they couldn’t be bothered to make the bridges 10 feet wider. Everything here is very pastoral. The drive over Arthur’s Pass and the Otira Gorge was spectacular while the sun was still out (about halfway there it got dark), and intense once it got dark.  At first it was like driving through Ireland, then it was like driving through the Alps (the Southern Alps, actually), or the Rockies back home. I got pretty good at judging how sharp the turns would be by the signs suggesting how fast to take them (just like exit ramps at home, etc.), but it was still a very concentrated drive for me, especially when we got a little bit of snow flurries.  By the way it was 95 in Brisbane the day before we left.

 

We finally made it to Hokitika at about 9:45, and stopped to see the glow-worm dell just before town- a little disappointing but still pretty neat.  That’s when the real fun began.  Hoki is a pretty small town, and by the time we checked in at about 10, everything was closed, except for this bar we found.  But it turns out it was changing hands the next day and the owners were having their last hurrah party.  A very outgoing old man named Peter quickly befriended us, bought us each a drink and got the owner to cook us up some food- but since it was changing hands they didn’t have any food on hand except for some fries and bread and butter. But we were really glad to get about a pound of hot fries and some bread to eat rather than the snacks we had in the car.  It was a great old time with country music blaring and mingling with the locals- it was a pretty small bar and these people obviously all knew each other.  But they continued the trend of Kiwi hospitality that we’ve been met with everywhere (except the rental car place) so far- and absolutely loved the fact that Leslie and Nicole were from Texas. They made us sing the Star Spangled Banner on the karaoke microphones before we left. It was truly an experience despite the difficulties earlier in the day, or in a way because of them.

Rainforest Hiking

This weekend we rented a car (more on that in a sec) and drove down to the Gold Coast Hinterland (inland from its famous namesake) to do some hiking with Becca and Beth.  I wish this post were longer, but words can't do this experience justice like the pictures can.  You can see those here on Nicole's flickr.

The driving was quite an experience. I'm the only one over 21, so I was the only one who could drive.  Driving on the left really wasn't all that bad, nor was turning, I think in part because I had spend the previous couple days thinking really hard about how to execute such things.  The weird part, though, was being on the right hand side of the car.  Having the bulk of the car be to the left and the mirrors in all different places made merging and parking quite the experience. We did have a couple not-quite-that-harrowing moments after turning left and going about 100 yards before we all realized we needed to be on the LEFT side of the road- luckily in pretty isolated areas with no cars around.  It was good practice for NZ next week.

The rainforest we walked through in Springbrook National Park was breathtaking. Its a UN World Heritage site, and since its up on these ridges has huge gorges and lookout points, and the different altitudes mean that there's like 3 different kinds of rainforest that we actually hiked through.  We saw something like 7 waterfalls, including walking right under some of them.  My mother would have died at all of the "babbling brooks" (a reference to our trip to Northern California in during the spring melt in which each runoff creek on the side of the road was exhilarating).  It was straight out of a geography textbook- we even saw a lace monitor lizard that was probably 4 feet long.  

Once again, I wish I could say more, but you've really got to look at all of the pictures- I can't stress how awesome they are.  I really wasn't expecting what we got out of the day- it was amazing despite the sore ankles and shin splints.  And the driving turned out pretty well, thankfully.