Hi everyone!
I've had a great time here in Tasmania with my five friends here. We met up in Sydney and headed down to Launceston in Northern Tasmania. We had overcast conditions the whole time but were really lucky to not get too wet -- and actually the weather even enhanced our experience. ;) (whatever!)
Highlights of the last two weeks:
* Completing the Overland Track, considered one of the best hikes in the world. We crammed a seven-day walk into five days and had so many fun experiences, meeting people in huts, visiting rain forests, and learning card games! It's the kind of thing you really have to experience for yourself. I felt a real thrill at the top of the Acropolis, a mountain that a couple of us summited on the side.
* Visiting Wineglass Bay and other incredible beaches. This was the first time I've ever gone backpacking to a beach -- and actually there were three or four of them. I've never seen so many shells strewn across beaches. Wineglass Bay is considered one of the ten best beaches in the world (I have no idea how they rank these things!) but it was really something special in person.
* Seeing lots of wildlife on Maria Island. We saw wallabies in other places but on Maria Island there are kangaroos all over the place and they are very friendly. We also saw wombats, some very colorful birds -- and on the ferry back to Tasmania, we had a special encounter with a group of dolphins who were jumping and chasing our boat.
* Fall colors. We saw lots of beautiful colors both in the botanical park as well as above the tree line. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, and this year I get to see it twice!
We really had a fun time traveling as a group, complete with a lot of jokes and stories that are only natural when you spend that much time together. We had fun driving around (I was the designated driver for our van due to my vast experience driving on the wrong side of the road!) I love road trips!!
We are returning home this weekend! It's been fun to travel but there's no place like home!!! I'll post pictures after I get over jetlag (that may be a long time from now!)
Love,
Ray
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Road Trip Heaven
Hi friends,
This is my last posting from New Zealand. This week I have been a road trip maniac, traveling from the south end of the South Island by bus all the way to Christchurch, where I will depart on Sunday morning to return to Australia. New Zealand truly is a beautiful country, and I have really enjoyed the road trips. I am sad to be leaving.
Highlights of my week:
* Milford Sound: I finally listened to what everyone said -- "A trip to New Zealand isn't complete without seeing Milford Sound". They were right! I went on a cruise around the Sound in a rain downpour -- and saw more waterfalls than I have EVER seen before! The drive to the Milford Sound was incredible too.
* Mt. Cook: The highest point in New Zealand. Mountain climber mecca -- Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Cook before conquering Everest. I just did some dayhikes but the glaciers and lakes were breathtaking!
* Akaroa: A volcanic peninsula with an opening to the ocean. Dolphins, seals, and lots of other sea animals hang out here. Unfortunately the weather was too bad to take a cruise, but I thoroughly enjoyed the mountain and ocean scenery and the French Riviera-like towns.
* Hanmer Springs: I'm actually headed there tomorrow on my last day in New Zealand, but it sounds like a highlight already. I'll visit the hot springs and enjoy the mountain scenery of the area.
A funny side note: I've visited the town of Te Anau, the "Walking Capital of the World", six times in the last couple of weeks! It's a town that's right in the middle of everything, so I kept passing through (I spent two nights in hostels here in between hikes).
I'm really looking forward to heading to Tasmania with 5 friends. I've heard so many great things about Tasmania -- plus I'm very excited to see friends again. Wish you could all come too!
Love,
Ray
This is my last posting from New Zealand. This week I have been a road trip maniac, traveling from the south end of the South Island by bus all the way to Christchurch, where I will depart on Sunday morning to return to Australia. New Zealand truly is a beautiful country, and I have really enjoyed the road trips. I am sad to be leaving.
Highlights of my week:
* Milford Sound: I finally listened to what everyone said -- "A trip to New Zealand isn't complete without seeing Milford Sound". They were right! I went on a cruise around the Sound in a rain downpour -- and saw more waterfalls than I have EVER seen before! The drive to the Milford Sound was incredible too.
* Mt. Cook: The highest point in New Zealand. Mountain climber mecca -- Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Cook before conquering Everest. I just did some dayhikes but the glaciers and lakes were breathtaking!
* Akaroa: A volcanic peninsula with an opening to the ocean. Dolphins, seals, and lots of other sea animals hang out here. Unfortunately the weather was too bad to take a cruise, but I thoroughly enjoyed the mountain and ocean scenery and the French Riviera-like towns.
* Hanmer Springs: I'm actually headed there tomorrow on my last day in New Zealand, but it sounds like a highlight already. I'll visit the hot springs and enjoy the mountain scenery of the area.
A funny side note: I've visited the town of Te Anau, the "Walking Capital of the World", six times in the last couple of weeks! It's a town that's right in the middle of everything, so I kept passing through (I spent two nights in hostels here in between hikes).
I'm really looking forward to heading to Tasmania with 5 friends. I've heard so many great things about Tasmania -- plus I'm very excited to see friends again. Wish you could all come too!
Love,
Ray
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Kiwi Hitchhiking 101
Hi everyone!
I've escaped once again from the beautiful rugged mountains of New Zealand for my weekly clean up ritual. This week I completed the Kepler and Dusky Tracks, both in Fiordland National Park and both incredible in their own rights. For its part, the Dusky Track was all around one of the most challenging hikes in my life -- I've never seen anything quite like it. I'll write more about it later, but suffice it to say I think I really need a nice long break from tramping!! I will also just note that I got to the start on Dusky Sound via a helicopter ride to Supper Cove (wow!) and finished with a ferry ride across Lake Manapouri.
My main topic of this blog, however, is hitchhiking in New Zealand! It's funny how many times people have recommended this to me when I mentioned that I needed to get from point A to B. They kept telling me how everyone is willing to give you a ride, so I tried to hitchhike a couple of times my first week here, to no avail. I learned then, however, that they have funny hand signals when they drive by you to indicate why they can't stop (as if they feel guilty for not stopping). They have signs indicating "No room in my car", "I'm just going around the corner", or "I don't care to stop!". Hilarious!
Then the last week I did end up getting a couple of rides:
* One from a fellow tramper from USA going 3 hrs back into town
* One from a nice gentleman going 20 minutes between towns
* One from a young man driving home for a long Easter weekend. This was last night, when I was too late to take a bus back into Queenstown from Te Anau (having just completed the Dusky Track). He picked me up minutes after I started trying -- he said he could take me part way to Queenstown. I ended up deciding to go with him all the way to Invercargill and see what there is going on there. This last week I really have no detailed plans, just lots of ideas, having completed the main things I wanted to do in New Zealand. So I'm here in Invercargill this weekend, at the bottom tip of the South Island. I stayed at a hostel here last night, and today went to church at the southernmost LDS chapel in the world! Wow! The members are so friendly that I received an offer to stay at someone's place tonight on Easter Sunday. Very fun!
I'm looking forward to meeting up with five friends from home in Sydney in one week!
Love to all,
Ray
I've escaped once again from the beautiful rugged mountains of New Zealand for my weekly clean up ritual. This week I completed the Kepler and Dusky Tracks, both in Fiordland National Park and both incredible in their own rights. For its part, the Dusky Track was all around one of the most challenging hikes in my life -- I've never seen anything quite like it. I'll write more about it later, but suffice it to say I think I really need a nice long break from tramping!! I will also just note that I got to the start on Dusky Sound via a helicopter ride to Supper Cove (wow!) and finished with a ferry ride across Lake Manapouri.
My main topic of this blog, however, is hitchhiking in New Zealand! It's funny how many times people have recommended this to me when I mentioned that I needed to get from point A to B. They kept telling me how everyone is willing to give you a ride, so I tried to hitchhike a couple of times my first week here, to no avail. I learned then, however, that they have funny hand signals when they drive by you to indicate why they can't stop (as if they feel guilty for not stopping). They have signs indicating "No room in my car", "I'm just going around the corner", or "I don't care to stop!". Hilarious!
Then the last week I did end up getting a couple of rides:
* One from a fellow tramper from USA going 3 hrs back into town
* One from a nice gentleman going 20 minutes between towns
* One from a young man driving home for a long Easter weekend. This was last night, when I was too late to take a bus back into Queenstown from Te Anau (having just completed the Dusky Track). He picked me up minutes after I started trying -- he said he could take me part way to Queenstown. I ended up deciding to go with him all the way to Invercargill and see what there is going on there. This last week I really have no detailed plans, just lots of ideas, having completed the main things I wanted to do in New Zealand. So I'm here in Invercargill this weekend, at the bottom tip of the South Island. I stayed at a hostel here last night, and today went to church at the southernmost LDS chapel in the world! Wow! The members are so friendly that I received an offer to stay at someone's place tonight on Easter Sunday. Very fun!
I'm looking forward to meeting up with five friends from home in Sydney in one week!
Love to all,
Ray
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Redefining "wet"!
Hi everyone!
Instead of "All Over Down Under" I should be "A Lover Down Under" or "A Loner Down Under" because I am really loving this scenery but I'm starting to feel a bit lonesome! Fortunately in two weeks I will be headed to Sydney to meet friends and head to Tasmania. Crazy as it sounds, now five friends (Susie, Renee, Val, Thad, Tonisa) will be joining me for the last two weeks in Tasmania -- I think we should call our group the "Tasmaniacs"!
I'm on my weekly break from the mountains. For two weeks I have gone on backpacking treks during the week and retreated to the hostels & cities on the weekends to do laundry, buy food, dry out, etc.
The first week I hung out in Arthur's Pass National Park in central South Island. This second week here I have been further south in Mt. Aspiring National Park, where I completed the Cascade Saddle Route and Routeburn Track. This coming week I am further south in Fiordland National Park around Te Anau, doing the Kepler Track and possibly the Dusky Track.
What have I seen:
* A haunted hut -- the spookiest night ever, with scary sounds all night and my equipment even making noises as if being picked up.
* Beautiful glaciers going down all the way to rain forest, and would you believe still expanding? (A strange side effect of global warming) I even heard the incredible exploding sound of glacier calving.
* A porcupine-like animal getting into my food IN MY TENT twice the same night -- talk about scary! I later found out that this is the kiwi bird! It shriveled into a ball when I pushed it outside -- and finally left.
* Some of the worst rain ever. I was on the Routeburn Trail (widely considered one of the ten best hikes in the world) when I got caught in a deluge. Fortunately I had already seen some amazing scenery, but once in the storm I couldn't see much anymore. (Although I did see LOTS of huge waterfalls all around me, including the Earland Falls, one of the highest in the world). I was planning on camping that night but my sleeping bag was soaked thru, so fortunately I had the sense to beg to stay in the expensive hut that night. The crazy thing is rain or not, you put on the same wet clothes the next day to go out hiking again. You save the dry clothes to sleep in each night.
* New shoes -- my feet were giving me some problems and so I just bit the bullet and bought some new shoes in some sports store! Pretty gutsy to just throw away my old shoes but that's what I did.
* Tiny church branches -- I went to church in Greymouth and Queenstown. Both places the church is very small. It reminded me a lot of my mission and brought back fun memories. The spirit was strong, the members were friendly, and the gospel is the same there too!
Please feel free to send me questions or comments (either to my email address or to the comments in the blog) and I'll try to respond. I will be sending out pictures when I can find time to do it where I can get a cheap internet connection!
Love,
Ray
Instead of "All Over Down Under" I should be "A Lover Down Under" or "A Loner Down Under" because I am really loving this scenery but I'm starting to feel a bit lonesome! Fortunately in two weeks I will be headed to Sydney to meet friends and head to Tasmania. Crazy as it sounds, now five friends (Susie, Renee, Val, Thad, Tonisa) will be joining me for the last two weeks in Tasmania -- I think we should call our group the "Tasmaniacs"!
I'm on my weekly break from the mountains. For two weeks I have gone on backpacking treks during the week and retreated to the hostels & cities on the weekends to do laundry, buy food, dry out, etc.
The first week I hung out in Arthur's Pass National Park in central South Island. This second week here I have been further south in Mt. Aspiring National Park, where I completed the Cascade Saddle Route and Routeburn Track. This coming week I am further south in Fiordland National Park around Te Anau, doing the Kepler Track and possibly the Dusky Track.
What have I seen:
* A haunted hut -- the spookiest night ever, with scary sounds all night and my equipment even making noises as if being picked up.
* Beautiful glaciers going down all the way to rain forest, and would you believe still expanding? (A strange side effect of global warming) I even heard the incredible exploding sound of glacier calving.
* A porcupine-like animal getting into my food IN MY TENT twice the same night -- talk about scary! I later found out that this is the kiwi bird! It shriveled into a ball when I pushed it outside -- and finally left.
* Some of the worst rain ever. I was on the Routeburn Trail (widely considered one of the ten best hikes in the world) when I got caught in a deluge. Fortunately I had already seen some amazing scenery, but once in the storm I couldn't see much anymore. (Although I did see LOTS of huge waterfalls all around me, including the Earland Falls, one of the highest in the world). I was planning on camping that night but my sleeping bag was soaked thru, so fortunately I had the sense to beg to stay in the expensive hut that night. The crazy thing is rain or not, you put on the same wet clothes the next day to go out hiking again. You save the dry clothes to sleep in each night.
* New shoes -- my feet were giving me some problems and so I just bit the bullet and bought some new shoes in some sports store! Pretty gutsy to just throw away my old shoes but that's what I did.
* Tiny church branches -- I went to church in Greymouth and Queenstown. Both places the church is very small. It reminded me a lot of my mission and brought back fun memories. The spirit was strong, the members were friendly, and the gospel is the same there too!
Please feel free to send me questions or comments (either to my email address or to the comments in the blog) and I'll try to respond. I will be sending out pictures when I can find time to do it where I can get a cheap internet connection!
Love,
Ray
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
