Day 2 (continued)

Pomplona Lodge (four hours away), was our evening destination. We rolled in at about four in the afternoon.



Gorgeous!



Lovely!



With about 9 meters of rain a year, erosion is a significant factor in the trails. This section will probably be washed away in the next few rains. The trail will then be re-routed a bit further from the river.



They had "long drop" toilets along the track. Unfortunately, the drop wasn't nearly long enough. :-P

Milford Trek day 2

We had a chilly start the next morning. The grass was covered with frost.



This was the first of many swing bridges along the route. (Amy: Don't look down. Tim: I'm looking down!)



This area is a rain forest, with towering trees everywhere.



Amy in front of the oldest tree on the trek, a red beech approximately 700 years old. Unfotunately, it won't be getting any older as it has passed on, and is now decaying.



The trail itself was smooth and level, making for easy walking. It didn't last.

Milford Track Day one (con't)

:-)

Arrival at the first night's lodge ...



A bush robin. They look for bugs disturbed by your foot scuffing up leaves ...



Nice views!



Weirdest of all--You can drink from streams here! Ahhhhh!

American English--Australasian Translations

American English – Australasian Translations

Yield = Give Way
Parking Lot = Car Park
DUI = Drink Driving (AU)
Body Shop = Smash Repair
Carpenter = Joiner
Diner = Brasserie (I perked up the first time I saw that, then looked closely at the spelling - Tim)
Rotary = Traffic Circles
Car Rentals = Car Hire
Sweat Pants = Track Suit Bottoms
Breakfast = Brekkie (AU) or Breaky (NZ)
Soccer = Footy (Football)
Cattle Guard (on the ground) = Cattle Stop
Cattle Guard (on a car) = Bull Bar
Napkin = Serviett
College/University = Uni
Journalist/Reporter = Journo
Salvation Army = Salvos
Cup of Tea = Cuppa
Counter-Clockwise = Anti-Clockwise
Layaway = Lay by
Rumble Strips = Judder Bars
Vehicle Inspection = WOF (Warranty of Fitness)
Thank you = Cheers
You’re Welcome = No worries

More philisophical ramblings to come ...

Tramping the Milford Track

(Click on any picture to enlarge)

In New Zealand, it's not "hiking," it's "tramping." Despite my misgivings about our reputations, Amy and I decided that going "tramping" was a good thing.

The night before we left, a friend came to visit our hostel room ...



The scenery as you drive from Queenstown to Te Anau (starting point for the trek) is breathtaking ...



We went for a chilly boat ride to the trailhead ...



Those mountains look awful cold!



Guess who likes boat rides???



We disembarked and started the twenty-minute walk to the first lodge, the Glade House ...

Last post for five days ...

We're off to do the Milford Trek tomorrow morning!

Amy on the steps of the Christchurch Cathedral ...



Amy at the Queenstown docks ...



We took a ride on the TSS Earnslaw (Twin Screw Steamer, circa early 1900's) I'm sitting on the "Aussie Liferaft" (concrete block used to balance out coal load).



Sheep shearing demo at Walter Peak farm ...



Amy held this little fellow. Following the Koala's lead, he crapped on her.

Bike turn in, Christchurch Botanical, Baaa!

:-(

Buller Gorge, Pupu Springs, Kaikoura sunset

We walked across, and rode back on the zip line!

Movie upcoming!

Franz Josef Glacier

Brrrr!

Amy's thoughts on New Zealand ...

Well, Tim said I needed to contribute in some way to this blog of our trip but I think he’s been doing a great job without my input. But he asked nicely, so here goes.

Picture in your mind the most beautiful setting you can imagine. Start with a lush meadow and rolling thick tufted hills. Sprinkle it with white wooly sheep and fluffy little lambs. Behind it, raise up majestic mountains and cover them with green grass or bright golden flowers right up to the peaks that are iced with snow and haloed with fluffy clouds. Paint a vivid blue sky behind them. Maybe trickle in a crystal stream that bubbles and bounces all the way from the mountain tops, over the green hills and down the meadow to a pebble beach that meets a clear turquoise blue ocean, frothy with waves and bouncing seals diving for fish. Can you see it in your mind? I’m telling you that no matter how creative you are and how vivid your imagination, you will fall short of the reality that is the south island of New Zealand. It is that beautiful. It really is. It really is as amazing as it looked in “The Lord of the Rings” but because that movie is fantasy, it is easy to imagine that the sets were the product of a matte artist’s hand or an image generated by a computer. It’s not. It’s real. This is the best kept secret of the whole world. Tim and I have had cramps in our cheeks from Oooohing and Aaahing and smiling at how gorgeous it all is. And just when we relax and start to accept the beauty of it, a baby lamb will bounce across a field to its mother or we’ll pass a country clapboard house with a porch fringed in purple wisteria blossoms and our cheeks will ache again. It’s wonderful. You can look at our pictures but unless they make you cry, they don’t even come close.

And for a guy who has only ever ridden, driven or lived in a right-hand-side of the street country, Tim is doing an amazing job of navigating the left-hand driving of New Zealand. He can enter and exit parking lots and even U-turn mid-street and he does it like a native. I get to just sit back and take in the scenery.

- Amy

Arrival in Christchurch, New Zealand, South Island

Nice flight in over what looked like English countryside, with lots of hedges...



Nice sunset as we walked to dinner ...



The restaurant had a nice sign on the wall:



(If you can't read it, it says, "Message to all staff: The light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice.")

And then to our wonderful room at the Old Countryhouse ...

NZbiking

We picked up our steed at NZbike, just a few blocks from our hostel, and headed off into the sheep-filled countryside ...

Kaikoura (Plenty crayfish food)

Beautiful coastal city with snowy mountains on the other side!





Our tasty lunch stop ...