Day 30 - Flight to Auckland/Queenstown
Today we landed in Auckland about 10 am and were not scheduled until 2 pm to fly to Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand. We were able to change our flight to the noon flight for free! What a great start to New Zealand! We were in Auckland no longer than an hour!
Air New Zealand was a great flight. They have the most entertaining flight instruction videos. One from the Golden Girls and one from The Lord of the Rings.
We decided to rent a car in NZ so we could explorer as we pleased. Queenstown is not that big as they only have about 15,000 locals, but can have up to 50,000 people at one time with tourists. Luckily we got upgraded for free to a Holden SUV. The mountain climbs would have been less enjoyable in a small economy car.
The hotels were pretty expensive in Queenstown so we tried Air BnB. We rented a room in a two bedroom condo with its own bathroom from a couple in their thirties. It was right on the beautiful Lake Wakatipu. We were able to do laundry for free, park for free, free wifi (very uncommon we later found out), and we were able to use their kitchen. Being Thanksgiving, we were excited to go the store to get fresh ingredients for a home cooked meal!
First we decided to be a bit active and hike the Queenstown Hill. Being in an area with huge mountains, it is named appropriately. However, it was higher than anything we hiked in the Finger Lakes. It provided great views of town and the lake.
We stopped at two different grocery stores as we thought the first stop was too expensive. Turns out all of the food here is expensive.
We got all sorts of food for happy hour and dinner. Turns out our eagerness for fresh food had us buy more than we could eat that night. Ironically, we only had Thanksgiving happy hour with wine, hummus, cheeses, and crackers.
Aside from the obvious mountains in Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu is what makes it unique. This huge lake sits at the bottom of the mountains where fresh glacier and rain water flows over rocks for miles before reaching the rock bottomed Lake Wakatipu. Additionally, the temperature of the water is very cold preventing plant life from growing in the water. This along with minimal pollution, create the bluish water either of us have ever seen. It is the color of the "fake" water color you see in water rides at the amusement park. The bluish water is just gorgeous and I hope the pictures capture this.
Day 31- Queenstown
Our room in the condo does not have an exterior window. This turned out to be a pro and con. The pro is we got to catch up on sleep. The con is we got a later than planned start to the day. Despite going to bed at 11, we slept until 9 am. We could have kept sleeping, but we were excited to get out and see the countryside.
We decided to rent bikes for the day and explore the extensive bike paths in New Zealand. By the time we got the bikes rented, we didn't start until about 12. The weather was bit more chilly this morning, about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We headed east out of Queenstown with the goal of going around Lake Hayes. The ride was beautiful. The yellow flowered mountain side was on one side of Lake Wakatipu with sharp mountains over looking us. It was weird as it was very cloudy today, but clear enough to see the peaks, unlike yesterday. We stopped and took some pictures along the way. I have to say it was the most fun mountain biking I have done. There were just enough up and downs to make you have to switch gears and jump your heart rate, but flat and wide enough paths that you could look up and enjoy the scenery.
About two hours in the ride, the rain started. Luckily, we had our rain jackets which we put on. My rain golf pants seemed to hold up pretty well. We trekked on to the lake despite the drizzle. About the time we got to the lake, the rain really picked up and the ride become no fun. The lake itself was a let down as the rain was heavy and the clouds were thick. We just were not meant to see one of the most photographed lakes in New Zealand on a good weathered day. Oh well. The ride over looking the river to get to the lake made the first half of the ride worth it. After about two hours of peddling in the steady rain, we made it back to the condo wet, cold, and hungry. Not a great combination. A warm shower and a snack quickly lifted our spirits. The condo owner gave us free laundry detergent, so we spent the next two hours cleaning all of wet and remaining clothes. All in all, we have no idea how far we rode, but we were on bikes for 5 hours.
Since we did not eat our planned Thanksgiving dinner last night, we were able to load up on fresh vegetables for dinner tonight. It was nice to have a meal that did not involve eating out. We had hummus, salad, falafel, cheese, crackers, and wine.
The rain was still steady, so I was able to get the two bikes into our rental car (thank goodness we got a free upgrade to an SUV). We made our way into to town to return the bikes and stopped for a beer at a local pub, Pig and Whistle. I had another great beer, Speight's Gold Medal Ale. Pig and Whistle was an English style pub playing all sorts of random American music before a local band started playing. It was a great bar that I would recommend to visitors.
It's 11:36 and I am trying to get better about blogging each day vs a few days later when we travel. However, we have a 6 am wake up call for our trip to Dart River which is supposed to be one of the best and most beautiful things to do in Queenstown. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow!
Day 32 - Dart River Funyak
Today we arranged to go on funyaks on the Dart River (see pictures to see what a funyak is). After some mix up on where to pick us up, we finally made it to Glenorchy where the Dart River starts from Lake Wakatipu. The boat ride up the river was freezing as it was only 50 degrees and we were flying on a jet boat. See the video below to see some of the action.
Once we got to our drop off, the clouds separated and the sun shined through! The weather ended up being better than expected. The company had all sorts of layers of clothes so we were warm. It was the first time I have worn wet socks under my wet boats. The views were stunning and the go pro camera doesn't even come close to capturing the magnificent mountains and river. The current was extra strong today since we had all sorts of rain yesterday. It was the most fun I have had kayaking. Strong current that was fun and manageable with amazing views. Despite being expensive, the experience was worth the price.
We got all sorts of Lord of the Rings factoids as the movie was filmed right on the Dart River. I haven't seen any of the movies, but a lot of the tourists were fans. Isengard and Lothlorien were filmed on the Dart River and the mountains surrounding it. The drive back was right on Lake Wakatipu and is supposedly ranked in the top 10 drives in the world. The bluest possible water was absolutely stunning to look down at.
Biking in the rain yesterday has given me some sinus troubles. Hoping my trip preparation of psueudophed and loratidine will help prevent it from being major issues.
We cooked dinner again tonight at the condo. We were able to grill BBQ tempeh. I have found it delicious since trying it in Bali.
We spent the remainder of the evening hanging out in our condo room preparing for our move to the Milford Sound. Early wake up for a 6 am Buckeye game.
Day 33 - Buckeye/Michigan game and drive to Milford Sound
My one lead for video streaming the game live did not turn out, so we were only able to listen to the Buckeye game. Not gonna recap the game, but the announcers stunk at calling it on the radio. They would get excited, but the offense would get 2 yards. Next play be even keel and gain 20. Additionally, we didn't play that great and the whole fight on the field made for a stressful Sunday morning. Luckily we pulled it out, so we could start our 5 hr ride to the Milford Sound on a positive note.
The drive along the lake with windy hills was amazing. No doubt the prettiest drive I have ever taken. It beats hands down the drive to the Florida Keys (my favorite drive before today). We took all sorts of pictures of the landscape which we will post.
We stopped over a dozen times to just take in the views. This isn't common for us as we see it and usually move on. This was on a whole other level and we had to stop. One of the popular stops on the way was Mirror Lake. Seeing it on the day we beat Michigan was ironic. Brought back memories from our days at OSU.
We took the advice of our funyak guide and hiked to Key Summit which was right up my alley on perfect hikes. 3-4 hrs in length with a good climb and unobstructed lookouts along the way with an open 360 degree view at the top.
We then checked into the Milford Sound Lodge. Since we booked so late, we had to stay in dormitory style rooms. 3 bunk beds in our room, so Kristen and I were with 4 others from Ireland, Australia, and 2 US. One of the Americans, Guy, was a marine biologist in California and I found him interesting to talk to. He has been scuba diving all over the world and can talk animals all day long.
Four of is went out at 11 pm to check out the stars. I have never seen that many and that bright of stars. Being so far south, with virtually no air pollution and minimal light around the mountains, just made them "dance". The only issue was the sand flies which are annoying like Mosquitos, but only the females bite. We could only handle so many of them, so our star gazing only lasted about 20 minutes. I wish I could have captured the sky in a picture to reference it.
What a great day! Excited to kayak the Milford Sound in the morning!
Day 34 - Kaying in the Milford Sound
Well, sharing a room with four other people didn't seem to be a problem. That is until you wake up in the middle of the night to a guy snoring so loud, you feel like you are being tortured. I'll tell the truth, just stop the noise! This is when I wished I would have purchased replacement ear plugs. Come to think of it, I doubt that would have actually silenced the madness. After an hour of tossing and turning and a bathroom break, I was ready to sleep in the car. Until, I thought why don't I get my headphones and listen to music. Brilliant. I got my phone and got back in the top bunk to realize that it was 515 and we were getting up in 45 minutes. At least my "slow" mix got me 45 minutes of some sanity. I still got up grouchy.
At 6 am, we quickly gathered our belongings and headed to the lounge where we took turns brushing our teeth and taking bathroom runs. PBJ toast tasted excellent this morning.
We were picked up at 715 for our morning kayaking trip in the Milford Sound. This is the main attraction that we had planned for this part of our trip. We were pumped that there was to be clear weather, but somewhat worried about the lower temperatures (~50 degrees at 7 am). Still a bit grouchy, the process to get dressed was dreadful. All sorts of different layers with some skirt that went on last. I hit my head twice on the low drying lines. The worse for me came when we were all dressed and I went to get my go pro camera out. It wouldn't turn on. Damn! I had it all charged up two nights ago in Queenstown. The only thing that I can think of is that it got turned on in transport and the battery ran low. This is one of my big complaints about the camera as it is soo easy to turn on and there isn't an auto off function (at least that I can figure out). All in all, bad start to my day and no pictures of our kayak trip.
The trip itself was excellent. We had a guide who was on his 9th season, which is a ton of experience. The views of the cliffs were magnificent. The temperature ended up being better than expected so it wasn't an issue. The other three couples were good kayakers so the pace of the group was good. Two from California and one from Germany. It was the first time I kayaked with a rutter in the back. It was easier to steer once I got a better handle on it, but definitely different to push your foot left or right to turn vs using your stroke. I was definitely disappointed that we didn't get to see dolphins. The commercial really made it seem that everyone experienced them swimming next to your kayak. Oh well, it ended up better than my expectations as the views were better than I imagined. There were all different types of mountains- some snow topped, others straight cliffs, others in various shapes and colors, all with beautiful water in the middle. I find it very difficult to imagine glaciers carving out such vast cliffs and mountains. Just stunning.
Since we didn't have the camera and we didn't get to kayak the entire sound, we signed up for a 2 hour boat cruise. This allowed us to really take in the surrounding and get some pretty cool pics in the process. The cruise we took was the last one out for the day, so all of the tourists buses were gone. How awesome. We got out to kayak in the sound before the tourist buses came and out after they left. Perfect. The views were still as stunning and we couldn't have been happier that we decided to do it. We even got to drink water from the glacier waterfall! I wouldn't have known the difference, but I did see the waterfall fill up the glass, so I know it was true. Tasted like bottled water.
Kristen decided to test the force of the waterfall on the return trip. I tried to capture it all on video, but the camera was getting soaked.
We ended the night with pizza and beer at the only pub in Milford Sound.
Day 35 - Drive back to Queenstown
This morning we got up to prepare for our 5 hr drive back to Queenstown from Milford Sound. We dressed to hike to Marion Lake as our kayak guide said it was a beautiful hike. Since we got an early start, we had the path to ourselves. Interestingly on the way to the lake, we passed over somewhat of a recent rock slide. Kind of eerie to leave a jungle path to nothing but rocks and downed trees.
The scenery at the top was stunning. The most clear water in a bowl surrounded by mountains. No one in sight. One side of the lake had a huge waterfall splashing in which kept it from being a glass surface. Just as we decided to head back, a French couple arrived. Interestingly, the guy passed us later on the hike, barefoot and practically running. He and his wife/girlfriend had to get back to Queenstown. We thought we were in great shape, but we are no where close to running down the mountain barefoot.
We stopped at the Chasm on the way home as many said it was spectacular. Having lived in the Finger Lakes with many gorges, we were not that impressed. They did not come close to the Watkins Glen gorge.
We did get to see Humbolt Falls which is a waterfall taller than Niagra and Taughannock Falls. It as not very wide, but had three steps as it came down the cliff.
We broke up the drive with a stop for lunch in Te Anau. I tried Bangers and Mash, a traditional dish made with sausage and green beens over mashed potatoes and gravy. It was good, but not something I would eat all of the time. Kristen had the veggie burger, which she was impressed with. We strolled through the two main streets downtown. A quick stop at the pharmacy to reload on loratidine and pseudophed. We were able to get loratidine, but pseudophed is not sold over the counter in NZ, so we struck out. Guess I should have brought more with us. We use a lot of it when treating sinus congestion. Turns out we both got sinus congestion from two hours of biking in the rain. I think the allergens in the Milford made it even worse.
I have been wanting to get a hair cut, so we found a salon. My hair isn't longer than it usually is back in the US, but with the hiking and activities we have been doing, it has been hot. Additionally, we don't have access to the best hair products, so long hair is too much of pain. I've begun to enjoy the simplicity of short hair.
Te Anau was a great city that would have been nice to stay one night in. We had to get back to Queenstown for a flight out the next morning. We checked into the Rydges Hotel and I went to catch us up on laundry. When coming back, Kristen reconfirmed our flight itinerary. Holy cow, we have one extra day in Queenstown. Some how we thought we were a day later. It gets hard to keep track of the day of the week and the actual date. It doesn't really matter to us, unless we are trying to catch a plane. Kristen was excited to have one more day in Queenstown. I was glad to have an extra day, but was mentally prepared to repack and head north.
We decided to head into town to try the different beers at Speights Ale House. I found them all to be great, but Kristen only liked the lightest one. We got to pick six beers for our beer flight, so we got to avoid the IPA and heavy porter which neither of us care for. We stopped by the 24 hr mart for what turned out to be the best convenient store bread ever baked. We also got a great deal on a bag of cookies that were the best on the trip so far.
Day 36 - "extra" day in Queenstown. Ben Lemond hike.
We got up and made breakfast in the room. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with coffee. Breakfast of champions. It turned out to be a great breakfast as it helped us climb the summit of Ben Lemond (5735 feet). This is much taller than my highest summit to date of 4,865 feet, Whiteface, in the Adirondacks. This hike was my favorite to date. It was not crazy difficult as we did not have to go over any boulders. Just slow and steady up hill. Almost 80% of the time we had the most amazing views of the gorgeous blue Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables Mountain peaks.
We also had another first on the hike. We ran into mountain goats, TWICE. And by run into, not physically, but they were on the actual trail starring at us. We waited about five minutes both times and they (4 total) eventually moved on to find cooler tree cover. The 360 degree views at the top of this summit were gorgeous.
About 5.5 hrs later, we reached the hotel pretty stinky as the temperatures were now in the mid 80s. Luckily we started about 9 am. We passed multiple hikers on the way down. Most notably, a couple from the UK who have visited NZ 8 times and Queenstown for a 4th. They had traveled all over the world and were very interested in hearing about Upstate NY and the outdoor activities. Ironically, they were in Oregon four months ago.
We showered and got in the car to drive to Arrowtown to check out an old gold mining town. Quiet town with local shops. We walked around for about 30 minutes before heading on. The drive to Arrowtown was beautiful as expected. We continued on to Gibston where we stopped to check out AJ Hackett's bungy jump site. For a mere $180, you can also get an adrenaline kick during a 10 second free fall. Since I have never tried it, I would one day like to do it. No way would Kristen stick around to watch. Hard to pay that kind of money when you can pay slightly more and jump out of a plane. A much better bang for the buck. The establishment was well oiled and raking in the dough with someone jumping every 3-5 minutes.
It was just past five, so all of the wineries were closed. A disappointment as I was hoping to see if they were much different. Oh well.
We made our way back to Queenstown where we stopped for groceries at New World. We did a picnic date night at the park right on Lake Wakatipu.
Day 37 - Flight to Auckland
Today we got up early to get to the airport at 8:00 to return the rental car. Our flight to Auckland was a quick, uneventful 1.5 hour flight. The weather in Queenstown was gorgeous again this morning, but we flew right into downpour. We made our way via bus to the Scenic Hotel Auckland where we had a room with a full kitchenette.
We only had two half days in Auckland and we wanted to at least see part of the city. We grabbed our umbrellas and rain coats and headed out. Since our hotel was right on Queen St, everything was close. Interestingly, most of the sidewalks had huge overhangs on them. This part of the city must prepare for the large amounts of rain and snow. We were able to handle most of the rain. It also helped that I had a HUGE umbrella from the hotel. However, once the wind finally picked up, I realized that I was very dangerous. We slipped into Raw Power, a cafe run by a friendly Chinese lady where I had a delicious vegetable pie with pumpkin mash, Kristen a coffee.
With the rain and wind still uncomfortable, we stopped at the grocery store so we could make dinner. Sure enough, food is still expensive on the north island. However, the prices to eat out were even higher, so we decided to skip eating out in Auckland and bought enough food for dinner, breakfast, and lunch.
We had some to dos, so we spent a few hours "doing business" as we were allowed 2000 MB of internet. We ran through that in the first four hours. It is amazing how much you use when watching videos, uploading photos, etc... It amazes us how poor the internet is here in New Zealand. It was even on the news that New Zealand is investigating their infrastructure. All hotels and cafés charged based on usage and the allowed usage was dismal.
We cooked dinner in the hotel and finished the night looking for a place to live in Portland.
Day 38 - Day in Auckland before flying to Santiago
We woke up this morning hoping to take a big walk to Mount Eden. More rain kaboshed our plans. Kristen worked out and I did some more business. It is amazing how hard it is to do basic things when you have slow internet. Paying credit cards, calling to arrange a transport for my Subaru to Portland, and just checking bills is so much harder in New Zealand. However, I wasn't sure when we will have connection again since we will be cruising for five days before spending two weeks in Patagonia.
We were unsuccessful in moving our checkout time, so we had to pack up for 11 am. We ideally would want to check out at 1 pm to get to our flight at 4:15. Kristen steamed and made the rest of the vegetables for the plane ride and for lunch. We dropped our bags off and decided to make the walk to Mount Eden for lunch.
I was a bit surprised to find the huge volcano in the middle of Auckland to be completely covered in grass. I had no idea grass grew on volcanoes, but I guess it makes sense once I stopped and thought about it. It isn't currently or recently active. The views of the city were great despite the clouds. You could see various islands and I bet it is gorgeous on a sunny day. We only stopped for 15 minutes as it was four miles round trip.
Everything went fine at the airport although we both got denied on their automated Customs camera system. I guess we don't look like our passport photos. Not a big deal as a custom agent got us through fairly quickly. A cool system. He thought mine was rejected because I am wearing glasses today and didn't in my passport photo. He offered no reasoning for Kristen, smart man. Not his first day.
New Zealand Random Thoughts:
We were happy to have visited New Zealand as part of this trip. Almost all of our experiences were on the South Island. We found it to be stunningly beautiful. The mountains were gorgeous and the water was pristine. The people there are very environmentally friendly. Queenstown was a cleaner town than Singapore, but I do recognize the vast differences in size. The tour guides were very friendly, but the rest of the workers that we interacted with were not as welcoming. We were a bit thrown off by this and maybe it is an unfair perception since we recently visited SE Asia which is known for friendly people. New Zealand is much more expensive than we expected. They should be embarrassed by their internet service being a third world country. The hotel worker in Auckland mentioned that Canadians and Americans are always disappointed as we have much better internet. We didn't wants to tell him that Cambodia and Thailand and China offer better internet, it isn't just a North American thing.
Click here for pictures of New Zealand
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