Casualty on the trip (but made it to Christchurch)

Finally had a casualty today. No, Flat Stanley is fine, but my little Nikon Coolpix, that has been taking so many amazing photos all trip, got squashed. Or got sand in it. Or something that made the lens not able to move in and out, therefore it can't take photos and therefore is dead. Being in one of the most scenic countries ever, I was a bit freaked out!

But I hit the road early, and stopped in Nelson where I found the downtown area and a Kodak shop. Yay! Got a new point-and-shoot (not my first choice camera, I think, but it will definitely do). It even had a bit of charge in it, so I was able to take some photos!

Here's downtown Nelson (my hero!):


Just to prove that the weather isn't all gorgeous and summer-like all the time. Here's the view by Nelson. You might have seen my other photos of this area from 2 days earlier, with mountains in the background. They're back there somewhere.



And then I dropped off the car and loaded up on to the Transcoastal train for a nice ride down the northeast coast of the south island. I don't have too many photos. But it basically was hills with lots of vinyards, or sheep and cows, and for a bunch of the trip a grey ocean on the left side. :)





Anyway, very tired now, but in my hostel in Christchurch. Some nice girls in my room, and I'm hoping to sleep late (couldn't manage that this morning). My shoulders are sore from kayaking and I have a really large bruise near my left elbow. I wouldn't have even seen it if I hadn't looked in the mirror while brushing my hair!

And that's about it for today. I'm right next to the church in downtown, and I should have a little walking time in the morning before I fly to Queenstown.

Church Tower:


But for now, sleep!

An amazing day in Abel Tasman National Park in NZ

Photos for today (sea-kayaking and then hiking in Abel Tasman)
Photos for yesterday (ferry from Wellington to Picton, and then the drive to Kaiteriteri)

I really lucked out today. I thought for sure it would be chilly and/or rainy for my sea-kayaking and hiking trip today, but it was spectacular weather all day long. I barely needed my warm gear for just getting out in the morning, and spent the rest of the day in shorts and various lengths of t-shirt. The activities were really fun so I had a great day, but most of all and best of all, the scenery was just amazing over and over again.

I woke up really early so that I could find some kind of food. I'm in a very small "town" and nothing opens early, so I left extra extra time to backtrack to the nearby bigger small town to grab coffee and some food.

Here's the view from across the street from me before I head out:


Then I had time to drive even more twisty-turny, tight-turned roads (there is no way to describe the number of hairpin turns... 100kmph my butt!) over to Marahau, where the kayak trip leaves from. Marahau:


It was pretty amazing to see with the tide out and the sun coming up. The sand goes on forever, and you can see the tractors pulling the boats out to where the water is so they can launch.



I met up with my group, which included my guide, Josh, and a couple from Florida (though one's originally from Texas but is somehow a Yankees fan), and a couple from Portugal. With double kayaks, Josh and I were paired up and the others would hence be known as "Team Florida" and "Team Portugal" (or "Team Lisbon"). Josh, though he's lived here for quite a long time, is actually Dutch. So, once again, it was quite the international group!

We signed our papers, got a bit of an overview, and geared up for kayaking, which includes the "skirt" and life jacket. Then we loaded into the watertaxi boat while it was on the trailer, and a tractor pulled us out to the water's edge. We rode for probably 15 minutes or so to get to the launch site for our kayaking, Onetahuti (I think it means "good beach to run on" but in a more elegant way).



We got some safety lessons and air-practiced our rowing (and I apologized to Josh in advance for the likelihood of me splashing him), and then we got our gear loaded up. Meanwhile, the place is just spectacularly gorgeous, too!



Me, Flat Stanley, and Josh:


But soon we're in the kayaks and heading out to Tonga Island, which is where the seals hang out on the rocks. We saw a bunch of seals, tons of muscles stuck to rocks, some cool birds, and more gorgeous views. I have many photos with seals, but it may be like a Where's Waldo game for you!





Mussels:


After visiting the seals, we hit the hard part (wind and big waves... though the wind was behind us so that was good), and made our way over for a break at Mosquito Bay. Another gorgeous spot.



And then we got back in the kayaks to head to our lunch spot of Bark Bay. Yet another gorgeous spot and I didn't even realize until I looked at my photos that it was virtually empty when we got there, but had a ton of people on it when we finished our lunch.



We had some lovely time to hang out and eat, and then we got packed up and changed shoes for the hiking part. The hike was often through a temperate rainforest type of environment, and the forest was beautiful, but maybe more amazing was hugging the coastline, so that very often you'd turn and see the amazing green water and far off mountains and clouds through the beautiful trees.





There was also some really cool trees, and Josh did a great job of explaining the trees, their history with the Maori, and some of the ways they grow and medicinal uses. There's a bunch of trees that have one type of leaf when young, and then totally change when they get older. What an adaption! And then the ferns were so gorgeous. I think I love the explanation of the ferns growth, which is highly admired by the Maori, as the leaves conferring with each other, like the knights of the round table.



Can I also just mention that Josh did the entire 3-4 hours of hiking barefoot? I really could not do that. As you might see in some of the photos, he can also be a bit of a goofball. I did not quite realize this until I looked at my photos after getting home! Except for this one, where he got into this little hole and pretended he was a hobbit:


Anyway, we walked and looked and admired and walked some more. We saw some lovely bays from up high, including Sandfly Bay and Frenchman Bay (also called Romance Bay).



And we also came to the bridge over Falls River, which I loved. It was much smaller than the one in Indiana Jones!




And then we walked up and down some more before making our way to Torrent bay, where the water taxi picked us up and took us back to Marahau. It was really a wonderful day in so many ways. Josh was a great guide, the group, like most of the other tours I've been on, had some wonderful and interesting people that I had a great time with, and the views were just amazing everywhere you looked. And then the workout of kayaking and hiking was great fun, even if I think I'll be sore tomorrow! Ah well, at least I'll sleep well tonight!

Then I came back to my room, grabbed some food, and have been patiently waiting for my photos to upload ever since. Which reminds me, I did also get the photos up from yesterday, so they're all there.

Some of my favs from yesterday... I have a million shots of various hills coming out of the water that are views from the ferry. Like this:




And then here's the little sign in the (right-side) driver's dashboard. Stay left on the road!


It's the Dead Marsh from Lord of the Rings! Okay, not really, but it really did look like it:


This is the view near Nelson. Awesome:


And just one of the places that said "Lookout->":


So yeah, a big few days! And tomorrow I'll make the drive back to Picton, and get onboard a train that travels the northeast coast of the South Island down to Christchurch. Long travel day, but at least on the train I can kick back and just watch the world go by!

Kiwi time

I'm in New Zealand with sloooooow internet given all the photos I've taken of the amazing scenery. I may get today's photos uploaded before going to bed. Or not.

But I'm here and tomorrow I'll be sea-kayaking and hiking in Abel Tasman National Park.

The ferry between Wellington and Picton was amazing. And the drive through the mountains on the north side of the south island was also amazing. Eventually I had to stop pulling over to take photos, but it was tough!

Grabbing just a couple that are up so far:

Bondi Beach, and goodbye to Oz...

It's been a very nice weekend involving some of the most famous beaches around here. On Saturday I took my time in the morning and watched the Xmas decorations go up around here.

Shaan decorating:


Geoff and Juliette put the lights on:


After a while, I made my way over to Manly Beach. I had gone with Shaan the previous week, but that day was so cold we didn't really get past the ferry terminal! This time I took my time wandering around the Corso and went up to the beach. It was a bit of a grey day, but still lovely to wander around that area.



And then I came home and we had a lovely BBQ and relaxed a bit. Sunday I got up early and made my way (after quite a travel log on public transport) down to Bondi Beach to meet up with even more cousins and their kids. Anthony had arranged the group, and he was there when I got there. It wasn't long before one of his brothers, Daniel, showed up with his girlfriend, Danny, and soon after our cousin Tom showed up before his turn in the Bondi beach swim that day.

Tom, Daniel, Anthony:


We watched the Little Nippers (the junior Life Savers club):


And then Tom had to go off to his swim race (and would meet up again later), and we found Anthony's wife, Loretta, and their three sons (Edward, George, and Sebastian), as well as Daniel's boy, Byron, and the third brother (of 5), Patrick. We all spent some time around the "pool" area on the side of the beach, and I finally got into the surf! We all splashed around a bit in the pool, too, and Anthony was kind enough to take photos. There's actually many more, but they're not all going online. If you're family and you want to see them, let me know!

I'm here in the surf:


The boys looking for fish:


Patrick and Edward:


The boys, Patrick, Loretta, and me:



After the swim time, we went and grabbed some breakfast for the boys, and then the kids were all tired, so I said goodbye to the three brothers and family and hung out on the beach for a while to wait for Tom. What a fabulous beach!

This is the life:


Tom arrived just about noon, and he and I went and got some lunch. It was great to catch up with him, and hear a bit about the family.



We ended up wandering around the Bondi markets for a bit, but since he'd just swam 2.2 km in the Bondi surf, he was a bit knackered! So he drove me into downtown, we said our goodbyes, and he dropped me off at the Rocks for some shopping (and boy, did I shop!)

Eventually I came back to the house and did a bit of organizing to ship another box home, and watched some tv with Shaan and Geoff. And now we're to my last day! I shipped one more box home, and Shaan and I had some lunch, and soon we'll be leaving for the airport.

I'm quite sad to be leaving family and a place I love. I look forward to coming back, and I do hope some of the relies can visit me! It's also shocking that I'll be home in a week and a half. I still have a whole 'nother adventure to go in New Zealand, but that will probably go quite quickly!

I climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge, baby! Yeah!

Today was pretty flippin' awesome.

Of course I had to say goodbye to Ann and Arnold (and Rupert), which was sad, and the bus ride was nothing to report. But once I was off the bus, I walked up to The Rocks (the area near the end of the Harbor Bridge) and found my way to the Bridge Climb office.



I was quite early, but I figured I wasn't about to lug my bags around shopping areas, so I might as well wait there. But she asked if I wanted to do an earlier climb and since I was meeting the fam for dinner, I thought that sounded great. Plus, no waiting!

You have a little area to wait that's on a balcony and there's these two doors. Above you is a cement big tunnel, obviously built under the bridge (or the highway that goes to the bridge).



You get called in through the gate and are helped through a waiver form and a breathalyzer. It's just about this point that we realize that it's me, Barbara, and Brian. Barbara is celebrating her 70th birthday today. Yay! And Brian is her wonderful husband who brought her here from New Zealand to do the climb. I hope I'm that awesome when I'm 70! But we're all realizing that this is crazy! You always see pictures with a dozen people in these groups, and we only have three! How awesome is that?

So, once through the initial round of safety stuff, you go into the changing area and are given the fabulous jumpsuits that everyone wears. You strip off anything not tied down (yes to rings, but no to big earings, watches, and certainly cameras and such). You put everything into a locker and you end up with the soggy-bottom look:



After THAT, you meet up with your guide. We had Alex, who was awesome. But even better, we had a second guide, Lindsey! So now we have three people and two guides. For the rest of the trip up and down the bridge, the other guides were referring to our group as the VIP's. :)

Anyway, Alex and Lindsey led us over to the gear area, and we each got a big-ass belt put on us that had many clips, and more particularly, the very tethered mechanism that keeps you attached to the steel cable guide all of the way up and back on the bridge. With that all set, you move on to the next few stations for a handkerchief (nose gets runny in the wind!), fleece (cold up there), radio and headset (so the guide can talk to you all the time), and other sundries.

Then you move onto a simulation area, with some steps and flat areas that mimic parts of the bridge. You latch up to the cable, go up each ladder, across the flat, down each ladder, and then you're good to go!

Before you know it, you're out the other tunnel and looking at the underneath of the bridge! At this point we're hooked up to the guide cable, and Alex and Lindsey walked ahead, gave us some random info along the way, and we just followed along. The actual walking/climbing is very quick and easy, actually. The thing that makes it take so long is the stopping to look around, and waiting for other groups to do the same. But with our teeny-tiny group, it was excellent because we could just stand and chat. Turns out Alex is only 4 weeks into the gig (probably why Lindsey was along, for some coaching), and he's just graduated with degrees in Philosophy and German. And Lindsey's done this for over 2 years, and takes time off to travel in the down season.

There's extra workers at the tougher ladder bits, but all of it was a total breeze. I wasn't even remotely nervous for half a second the whole time. There's a spot at the "bottom" where the walkway is mesh and you can see the water, but that doesn't last long (and I loved being able to see the water). But it was shocking how little vibration or movement there is all the way up and particularly at the top! I know I'm holding on in these photos (seemed the prudent thing to do), but as I was moving up/down the walkway, I was mainly using my hands as guides... I didn't really need to hold on.

Right, so pictures! Much like the barrier reef, these suckers were expensive. But worth it!








I have the photo of the three of us with our arms all awave, too, but not a digital version. I wonder if they post that one on the little site. I'll have to check...

Anyway, it was a really amazing experience. I wish I could have taken photos along the way of all of the trusses and neat angles in the bridge, but I understand why they don't want cameras dropping from the top of a very-used highway bridge!

And once I was done (the whole thing is 3.5 hours), I came back to Shaan and Geoff's and got ready for dinner out. It was wonderful food, and the best part was seeing Ali! We got caught up a bit, got some photos, and had a wonderful time. Here's the big group shot:



And here's Me, Shaan, and Ali. We were discussing the family resemblance across cousins and through to grandmother's generations. I can certainly see how Ali was mistaken for my mom's daughter when she was in the states!



And now it is once again too late. I don't love staying up when tired to do these posts, but I really do appreciate having them done when I go to sleep so that I don't even have to think about it the next day (and gads, if I left it beyond to yet another day... I'd forget more than half of it!)