Wine tour

November 21, 2007

Since I finished the Queen Charlotte Track a day early, I decided to do a half day wine tour through the Marlborough Country. There were 10 of us on the bus and we visited 4 wineries. The only wine questions any of us had were when were they going to pour the next free wine sample. New Zealand has only been producing wine for about 20 years but there are orchards springing up everywhere.

Christchurch (Thanksgiving Day)

Thursday November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving to All. Even though it is still Wednesday there, I can still smell the Turkey and Dressing. I just arrived in Christchurch after a 6 hr bus ride. Great weather and beautiful country. I went to the Sargeant Peppers Club for dinner and had a great STEAK??? Okay, no turkey to be found so steak is splurging for me. Yes, the Sargeant Pepper Club had Beatles posters everywhere and played Beatles music but was still very good, if not classy. No one really understands the concept of Thanksgiving here and probably not many in the states either. Canadians have Thanksgiving but in October. I leave for Queenstown tomorrow and then to Te Anau to start more tramping (trekking).

Mount Cook

November 23, 2007

I caught the bus from Christchurch and went to Mount Cook (NZ highest mountain at a little over 12, 000 ft.). The statute is that of Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first climber to climb Everest. He was from NZ and Mt. Cook was where he and his sherpa, Tenzig Norgay, practiced before their Everest summit. I was there for a couple of hrs and then continued to Queenstown to spend the night. Tomorrow I catch the early bus to Te Anau and then a cruise on the famous Milford Sound.

Milford Sound

Saturday November 24, 2007

I caught the 1:15 cruise ship for the Milford Sound Cruise. The day was overcast but we still had great views of the Milford Sound (which is really a fjord but they never changed the name). We cruised out to the ocean and returned coming within 10 feet of magnificent waterfall and we also got to see a group of seals basking on the rocks. On the way back it rained quite a bit but as they like to say, "It makes the waterfalls more spectacular.".

Back to Te Anau for the night and on to the Kepler Track tomorrow. Pictures will come probably tomorrow.

Kepler Track

11/25-11/27

The Kepler Track is a 3 day 61 kilometer (41 mile) track. It is rated as moderate to hard in degree of difficulty. On the second day, I had 1.5 hrs of hard SNOW while I was walking. It was beautiful and aggravating at the same time. It hampered my view for a while but later the weather cleared. The bunk houses where we slept were like freezers and only your sleeping bag kept you from freezing. People from all over the world especially Germany.

Routeburn Track

11/28-11/30, 2007

After spending November 27th in a Te Anau hostel, I headed out again for my 4th track since arriving in NZ. This track is much easier and only 30k but has maybe the most beautiful scenery of all the tracks. The hut wardens tell you that on a 3 day tramp they will guarantee you one day of rain and they were right. After a beautiful 1st day, the second day was 5 hrs of drizzle, rain, sleet and then hard snow. It took me several hours to thaw. LOL But it was worth every second as you will see when I get some pictures up hopefull tomorrow. At the end of the track I went to Queenstown for 5 days of adventure. At one of the huts was a group of 16 international high school students who were studying in NZ for a year. Each student was from a different country.

NEW ZEALAND, Queenstown

11/30-12/5/07

I arrived in Queenstown directly after finishing the Routeburn Tract. Queenstown has about 8500 residents and is set in the middle of the mountains and on a lake. It is considered the "adrenaline capital of the world". With beautiful weather, great scenery and lots of exciting things to do, there are not many places in the world that could be better. Sky diving, bungy jumping , canyoning, snow skiiing, mountain climbing, downhill luging, parasailing, hangliding, jet boating and the list goes on. Young people from around the world are drawn here for the energy and excitement. It reminds me of my "previous" favorite place, Interlaken, Switzerland, except cooler.

I survived the Canyon Swing which is essentially a 200 ft. bungy jump which turns into a giant swingin arch. To get a better idea of this go to canyonswing.co.nz It was quite a rush, kinda like flying. I also climbed to the summit of the Ben Lomond track and the 3 hr climb rewarded me with some of the best views that I have seen in NZ. Can't wait to post the pictures.