New Zealand

21/02/08
Hello folks, I’m happy to report that I’m safe and sound at Bob and Maxine’s Backpackers in Te Anau. Although there were no major mishaps to report on the way here, and even though most of the route was downhill, that’s not to say that the day wasn’t without its little challenges and frustrations. More specifically, I’d have to say that most of the day was full of challenges and frustrations. I’ve put a map together to show you where I was, but as you can see, there weren’t all that many pictures taken, for the simple fact that the road I was on was utter crap for what I was hauling. Check out the map, and read on for more details. I fear the story won’t be all that long, as it’ll be too painful to recall 🙂

20/02/08
Catchy title, don’t you think? Don’t worry too much though, the disaster wasn’t catastrophic, but it was certainly frustrating. Of course, you’ll have to read more of the post to find out what I’m talking about, as I don’t want to give it away just yet 😉 Today marked my return to the road by bike after a week of not cycling! Hard to believe isn’t it? Well, at least I was still quite active with my time, and had a very enjoyable time in Queenstown staying with Julia and Mark. Thanks a ton guys, it was awesome, especially our Valentines’ threesome! Ha ha. Get your head out of the gutters people, we just went out on the town and called it that. Anyway, I’m sure you’re all anxious to hear what my day had in store for me, aren’t you? My route today took me from Queenstown to a place called Mavora Lakes. Yeah, go ahead, try to find it on Google maps. I know it’s there, but I’m not sure it’ll show you a road. Luckily, you can see my route on the map if you care to, check out the pictures, and read on for more.

19/02/08
Just thought I’d let you all know that for the first time in the entire trip, there are no pictures, or maps, or really any stories to tell you for the day. Yup, I took the day off. Fully. I did laundry, did lots of Internet-y things, ran some errands in town, and even hired a movie to watch. Popped up some popcorn, and watched it in the late afternoon before the kids got home. Once Julia and Mark got in, I took them out for some Mexican food for supper. Tomorrw, I start the day with a ride on the historic TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamer to get to a gravel road that will take me to the Mavora Lakes where I plan to camp for the night. Day after that, on to Te Anau, and my day trip to Milford. However, you’ll read about those things in due time, so there! Hope you all enjoyed your day off for Family Day as much as I did for my Recovery Day!! 🙂

16/02/08 to 18/02/08
Wow! Well, I’m back from another great weekend of tramping in the wilds of New Zealand. This time, I was tackling the Rees-Dart Track, as well as tacking on a full-day hike to the Cascade Saddle and back. Normally, they rate this as a 4-5 day tramp, but I was doing the whole thing including the Saddle side trip in 3 days. Perhaps that’ll give you an idea of why I took a day off when I got back. The third day was definitely killer, and took me 9 grueling hours of hiking to finish off. However, I’m getting a little ahead of myself, and I’m aiming to fill you all in on at least some of the details of those three glorious days. Read on for the details, and check out the maps (day 1, day 2, day 3) and the pictures (day 1, day 2, day 3). The day 3 map is highly abbreviated, as the batteries were dead fairly early that day. Oh well.

15/02/08
Howdy sports fans! Well, now that I’m back in Queenstown after a few days of hiking, and before I head back out on the road, I guess I should fill you in on the last few days of adventures that I was on. Last time you heard from me, it was Valentine’s day. After a delicious meal of Rack of Lamb prepared by Mark, we decided to hit the town for a few hours of up-to-no-goodness. The only problem is that it was pouring rain. So, in order to get ready, we decided to have a bottle of wine and a few beers before heading out. That worked out okay, but the problem was that I had to get up early the next morning to head out for some bungy jumping. Yup, adrenaline day 2 was all about bungy jumps! I was heading out to the Kawarau Bridge for the original commercial bungy jump, and then to Nevis, a high-wire bungy which is the highest in NZ at 134m. I put together a little map of the day, to show you where these are, and there are also all kinds of pictures up for you to look at. Read on mates!