NZ Rafting

Today was also pretty entertaining. I woke early and found my way to a tire centre, but the didn't have an appropriate tire in stock. Breakfast and back to the hostel where I met a fellow named David Kinnear from Ireland. He is backpacking his way across the length of the south island in a new trail that runs the length of the nation. He just graduated with his MS in mechanical engineering and wanted to do something amazing before life got in the way of such things. I really think I should have done something similar when I graduated. We were going in the same direction, but I was going 10x as fast so I offered him a lift. We chatted about life and nature as I helped shave two days off his backpacking trip in an hour. Those miles would have been uninteresting road walking anyway.

After I dropped him off I headed to the rafting venue and we headed to the start. The scenery out here is surreal, with grassy rolling hills with sharp snowy mountains peaking in between them. The farms raise a striking variety of deer, reindeer, rams as well as sheep and cows. Apparently the raise the deer to sell their heads as hunting trophies. They have a hunting range where the release the deer for 3 days before releasing a hunter to collect their game. Strange past times we humans have.

The rafting outfit provided a lunch before and a BBQ afterward which was lovely. The river was rather broad and silty blue. This wasn't a particularly technical river, but it boasts the longest class V rapids in NZ, and these were respectable and boisterous. As we entered another raft flipped spilling it's cargo of passengers about the river. Our boat rescued one person, the other boat two. The fun part was that we got all turned around ourselves and almost flipped as we were flushed downstream through the gorge. All good fun!

After the BBQ I drove the two hours back to the airport and returned my hire car. The staff were very nice regarding the whole flat tire thing.

After taking a bus downtown and dropping my bags off at a YHA, I went to explore the city. I usually enjoy taking in the charms of a new city, but I had never been to a post disaster struck zone. The city is a mess 5 years after the big earthquake. There was a small earthquake as I walked around which shook up us pedestrians, afterwards we just went back to business. What else is there to do?

The city is in a state of deconstruction with very little new construction. It was actually difficult to find a business that was open, so many were shuttered. Some whole blocks were cordoned off, while their neighbors were more lucky. I talked to many locals and they had a peculiar attitude of grim optimism. "The city is much better than it was". The government actually closed the entire city center for two years after the quake and many people lost their jobs and homes.

It was difficult to be a pedestrian, so many sidewalks were broken up so that piping infrastructure could be worked on. I kept tripping on asperities that were hidden amongst the rubble. There was a large shopping mall entirely constructed of steel shipping containers, obviously a creative solution to rebuilding on the cheap in the face of destruction.

After dinner I wandered the city a bit looking for good wifi. I found some penetrating the aether near a little creek not far from my hostel. There was a young guy intently watching something in the water. I went down and talked to him and saw that he was trying to catch freshwater eels with his bare hands, the biggest on was larger than a meter. I ended up chatting with the fellow for over an hour, after which I headed to a bar to try and meet people. Despite putting on my most affable tourist act, I couldn't keep up a conversation so I gave up and went to my hostel to sleep.

As I type this I'm sitting on the bus on my way towards Mount Cook. I should be there by 1pm and maybe I'll be spending the night on the ice. Weather on the mountain looks good.
I am incredibly satisfied with the first part of my vacation. It was a bit full on and I could have used a navigator and information assistant when I was driving, but all ended up well. I still plan to visit Queenstown as well as checking out the Abel Tasman park, but those are future adventures.

On the bus I met a cool guy, Todd Eastman, who is also an American aerospace engineer on vacation in this amazing country. We stopped by Lake Tekapo which was about as pretty as things get. There were this one species of flower growing everywhere in full bloom, with the southern alps in the background. I had to taste the water, it was delicious.

I chatted with Todd Eastman about the Mueller Hut track that he'd done out of Mount Cook that I should absolutely check out. Once again, this is why I talk to people because I get things added to the list. As the bus arrived I had to run straight to my TMC.

I spent a few minutes wandering around the village until I found my way to Alpine Guides office.

NZ Alex Knob

I woke gradually in Hokitika. I accidentally climbed into the wrong bunk last night after sending the email and it was occupied. I was wondering how much I drank.. To be fair I threw my backpack up there but apparently my mark of dominance wasn't enough and was cast on the floor. Next time I'll piss in the bed and then nobody will want to sleep in it. At least another bunk was open.

I drove through rainforest worthy mist and fog for hours until I got to Arthurs Pass. I want to reiterate that my mountain climbing is nowhere near as dangerous as NZ roads in mist and fog with a donut as a wheel.

I wanted to climb avalanche peak at 1833m but I couldn't see the top. Freezing level was predicted at 1700m so that means sleet. I abandoned that idea and stopped by the visitor center which pointed me to Bealey spur which is part of a subrange that leads into avalanche peak. I headed that way into dry and sunshine.

I couldn't find my damn hiking socks! This is a subcompact car, where the hell did I put them. I didn't want to wear socks that would eat my Achilles again. Suck! I ended up fashioning Achilles protectors for this hike, very pissed off that I couldn't find my socks. And these are like 18$ socks a pair. Where did they go?

Some girls saw me tearing my car apart and asked if I needed help. I looked up through my anger and disgust to see three Swiss and Norwegian beauties. Blonde, blue eyes, slender and all legs. Yes, indeed they could help, but not with my socks.

Back to business Mike, I prepared my 4 seasons NZ day pack and hustled after these gorgeous flowers. About 15 minutes later I passed two of the 3 who were having a hard time of the up. I exchanged pleasantries and pushed my throttle in pursuit of the up that I seek. About 30 minutes later I closed in on the third and most attractive in my eyes, because not only was she beautiful, but she hiked fast. Sensing a predator on her heels, she stepped up the pace. I love this game! I gave chase and pushed myself to exhaustion, rallied, pushed, and did it again. I started to jog but the gremlin was inhabiting my left Achilles and decided to restrain myself. I let my prey fall away, knowing I would go hungry from my lack of athletic prowess.

40 minutes later, and things are more steep. The forest around me is lovely, but it is a bit hot and dry. I'm listening to music and suddenly I'm the prey. She must have diverted for a she wee and caught me. But I am sly and clever and captured her for the next 30 minutes to the hut. These lovely ladies are 3rd year college kids on an adventure break in between classes. We chatted and I extracted my future plans. She and her friends had just rafted the Rangitata river which is currently flooded to class V, and that sounds like adventure to me.

We reached the hut and sat down for lunch. We were harassed by a kea who was a very cheeky. He was smart enough to pull the zipper to open my pack, and bold enough to do it with me a meter away! I did get some good pics and videos of the cute little fellow.

Her friends arrived after we had finished lunch. I was satisfied in my hunting abilities, and had no more use of my prey so I cast off up and upwards. I reached the first false prominence and realized there was a second. I pushed upward and attained the top of a knob only to realize this was a Ridgeline that disappeared into the ominous foggy darkness that I had so intended to avoid. I took the opportunity to photograph the amazing scenery that was presented to me in all the modes that my camera and cell would support. This was after all a rather special view, to be surrounded by the southern alps with a floor of moraine rivers.

As was to be expected, it was cold and blowing. I started my downhill to pass the two lovelies intrepid enough to climb to the knob. The third had retired to the car park. On my return trip I kept feeling that I was lost, like I hadn't been on this trail. I didn't remember that tree. Did I really climb that hill? Perhaps something was distracting me from my usually acute trail memory...

I met a not so fit Indian couple. They were only 3k up and both were sweating profusely and obviously not accustomed to up. The man impatiently asked me how far to the top. Maybe not impatient as much as hot, sweaty and out of breath. I told him the ridge doesn't end, it just keeps going g into the mountains which don't go back down again until the sea 50 km away. Which is the truth. He asked again. I said 6 or 7 km to the hut. He wasn't happy with that, and asked how long, and I told him it took me an hour and a half. He seemed ok with that, but I pointed out it is another 45 mins to the knob. I failed to mention that I hike faster than him.

I got to my car and saw the Blondie that didn't do the hike. My vector was set, a 4 hour drive lay ahead. No time to waste. Except I had hours to think of where I put my damn socks. And I was going to find them. I had 5 spots of hiding in decreasing likelihood. I got to number 4 before I found them. Ugh. Living out of a car is just like on a boat. Small space but still infinite abilities to hide things.

I set forth and found a new hostel in Geraldine, a really cute little town. I met a cool irishman hiking the entire length of the south island. Omg why do I keep meeting people and talking and therefore adding things to my list. We are in the middle of the country here, and he is a month in. I'm giving him a ride tomorrow. I hit downtown and had another great dinner and beer.

Tomorrow I'm booked to raft the Rangitata river and experience class V rapids! I'll also try to fix my tire and buy some stuff for my mountaineering course like anti blister tape.

NZ Alex Knob

Today was a great day! This was the exact mix of experience I was looking for. I woke my neighbors up in my hostel room with my phone. Not sure what etiquette is on that sort of thing. I probably don't care because they came in late and woke me up. I tried my best to move fast but my vacation mode slowed me down, and I wasn't at the trailhead until 9. I had intended to start by 8 so that the weather would be better. As I was prepping I glimpsed the mighty Mount Cook peeking through the clouds.
The trail was exactly what I have come to expect from NZ. It was very well kept, not a bit of garbage anywhere. Three varieties of tree ferns and a multitude of smaller ferns. Every surface and trunk is also coated with a carpet of green. Mosses, worts, tiny ferns, fungi, so pretty! It also didn't take long for the trail in to change directions from in to up. It was lovely to climb a mountain again, especially a big one. Strava told me I ascended a bit over 1100m today which is pretty good.
As I climbed I was threatened by the prospect of the clouds and weather. It would be unfortunate to climb so long only to be living in the cold wet clouds unable to attain the good viewpoint that I am searching g for. I had already resigned myself to the fact that Mount Cook wouldn't be in the shot, but I'd at least like to see the glacier so I don't leave with a bad opinion of it.
I had multiple opportunities to sight the glacier on my way up which lightened my spirits. After all, any day hiking up a nice trail in a pretty forest on a mountain in another country can't be too bad, hey.
On my previous NZ adventure the only shoes I had were ultralight trailrunners which were wholly inadequate, and left me with chronically wet feet. In Seattle I wore my hiking boots but the socks allowed them to rub holes through my skin towards my Achilles tendon. I have some good scars too. Today I nailed it with proper shoes and proper wool socks which eliminated badness on my feet. A curious other painful thing happened. I started with a creaky left knee, which I summarily dismissed according to my "shut up legs" mantra. Somewhere about an hour into it, the pain migrated to my right knee, because it is always best to share the love. An hour of ignoring that and the goblin descended to my right ankle where he persisted until the downhill slog, at which point he set up residence in my left ankle. I'm just very happy he didn't tarry in my groin as he took a circumnavigation of my joints. Conveniently a few beers at the pub must have put him to sleep until tomorrow.

Alpine climbing is like a game of strip poker where you start off losing, then you go on a winning streak and end up wearing every damn thing in your pack. But your luck doesn't hold and you end up stripped down and sweaty at the end.

As I approached the treeline I was greeted with blasts of katabatic frigid air falling off the mountain range. My athleticism was keeping me warm until the wind and temperature forced me to don a fleece, then a shell, then a medium shell, then my medium shell pants. And a head sock under my adventure hat. Freaking cold! How am I going to deal with life when I'm actually standing on the Tasman glacier on the east side of the mountain? I'm envisioning using all of my clothing as creatively as I did when I climbed the Tongariro crossing in NZ last time. My boxer shorts over my head. Two pairs of pants that don't fit. All my shirts in an attempt to make a single jacket. Socks for gloves. Maybe I'm a tad better prepared this time.

The top of the knob offered a decent view whenever the clouds weren't swirling down. I was at least 100m above where the clouds started, but they were spotty allowing me to take some good pics. At least I was very happy with this, and I was fascinated with the fine details of the glacier face. I'm going to be hiking across that terrain soon.

Lunch is so much better with a view, and I ate a rasher of smoked salmon, and assorted fruit. Seattle taught me that smoked salmon is actually the flesh of the gods, and it is best eaten at the top of mountains so that I can be more like them. This wasn't quite the salmon candy that I smuggled back from Victoria, but it made the other hikers look at me like wolves as they gnawed on cold tasteless granola bars as they waited for a break in the clouds for a picture.

I'm very lucky, because I had a 30 minute lunch break and several photo opportunities before the sleet started and the best thing to do was to get beneath the treeline. See, the forests of NZ and those around Seattle are the world's only two temperate rainforests. And it simply wouldn't be a walk through a rainforest if one didn't get rained on. And cold ice-containig rain at that, on top of a treeless knob blasted by katabatic air. Fun! I have been practicing running down hills quickly, and it shows!

As I descended the clothes came off but the rainy mist persisted right up to the car park. I listened to good music the whole time and I felt well satisfied that I had accomplished one of my goals. However I am a right and proper civilized person. After such a bit of effort it is time to relax, so I drove across the small town to partake of the hot baths.

The venue was perfect, co-located with the largest chopper tour operator. For 400NZD you can take a chopper to about 3000m, get out and tramp on the glaciers for 3 hours, then fly down to hop into the hot pools. I sat in the pools for over 2 hours, moving between the three temperature zones. I was so blissed out at times that I fell asleep only to awake when somebody entered or exited and made waves. I was in serious danger of asserting squatters rights. I saw the NZ equivalent of bouncers and I could totally take them. See there aren't any dangerous animals down here so they are complacent about security, foolish kiwis.

However I became embroiled with inner turmoil. Strava also told me I burned over 1500 calories today, and I was hungry! I shuffled out of the pool in my togs (speedo) and showered in the first class changing room, and once dressed i scooted on towards Hokitika, the only town on this coast with more than 200 inhabitants, but less than 2000.

I should point out that the most dangerous thing I've done thus far is drive about 400 km on a donut on NZ squiggly roads. The low speed driving bugged me, and I have heard that the only cops on this coast are borrowed from Christchurch because the can't afford one. The perfect opportunity to flagrantly break a foreign countries law and here I am afraid to go over 90 kmph because the donut will asplode. Next time NZ, next time.

I drove through alternating rain and fine weather. The green of the mountains was stunning when the skies opened, and I honked at cows to get them to look at me. Local entertainment.

Hokitika if a cute town that seems to exist here to sell very expensive Jade stuff. I checked in at a hostel and went to have a Flintstones steak. The description was just too good, but the result was better. Prawns on top of a steak with a big bone sticking out of one side, on a bed of juvenile potato's in three kinds of sauce with one on each layer, with a smattering of veggies with their own sauce, and the cheapest IPA I've had in months. So I had two. Fantastic!

Ok kids, that is the end of my story, I'm drunk and tired and need energy for adventures tomorrow.

NZ Christchurch

I got into CHC at midnight and was able to pick up my rental from a hotel just outside the airport. Everything was closed, this is NZ and nothing is 24/7, so I just went to sleep in the car until I could buy eggs Benedict with salmon for brekkie then grocery shop.

As I drove out of town I saw a park and this spectacular limestone rock formation called Castle Hill. I have a thing for big rocks. I took the hike out to see them. I didn't realize how far away I was. Seriously big rocks, like a single slab was 100m high. Very weathered too, ancient. These rocks didn't look very climbable by myself, too smooth and lacking features. Anyway i explored a bit and took pictures.

I drove the two hours to Arthur's Pass and the wx looked fine, but I talked to the park guy who is an avid mountaineer. He was optimistic except for the 75kmph winds. He informed me that you will blow over if kmph equals your kg, and I was to be climbing a razorback with a 300m sheer drop on both sides. I also weigh 75kg. I decided not to die today and on-on to plan b.

But not before I realized I popped a tire pulling into the park offices. Dooh! Conveniently I can fix anything and had the donut installed in about 10 minutes.

Plan B was to check out the glaciers on the west coast, one of the only places in the world where glaciers flow into a rainforest. I drove the next 3.5 hours towards Frans Josef glacier taking a stop at this cute seaside town for lunch and a smoothie. I also kept my kmph down because I don't want the donut to explode at an inopportune moment which is pretty much all the time on NZ's squiggly roads.

I must say that this far the south island is immensely easier to drive than the north part of the north island. Those were some damn squiggly roads! Also, this is a very unpopulated stretch of coast. Nobody lives out here, no traffic and there aren't any safe harbors or easy way to put boats in. The Tasman sea looks rough too.

Anyway I checked out the little town of Frans Josef, and then I drove and hiked to the glacier. I was a bit unimpressed by the glacier itself, but the mountains were pretty impressive. The moraine is very unstable so the closest I could get to the glacier is 750m. So they say... You used to be able to walk on it from the path. As it turns out the glacier is shrinking very rapidly due to the past 20 years of climate change. An info Packard shows pics from this prominence taken over the years. the last pic was 2010 and they had an artist's rendition of 2100, and today it looked well past the 2100 pic. Now the only way to get on it is a 350$ heli ride. Considering I'm about to live on the Tasman glacier for over a week, and the cloud cover halted operations, I'm not interested in a chopper ride.

After I finished with this walk I drove 30 mins and hiked down to the Fox glacier. This was a much more interesting hike despite the cold drizzle. The whole walk is along the changing moraine field. There is greenstone (Jade) scattered everywhere. I was amazed at all the Jade on the ground, and I see what the Maori call it greenstone and treasure the gem quality stuff highly. I kept looking for a high quality piece, but there is a reason Jade is expensive.

The Fox glacier itself was more impressive, and I was only 450m away. The rocks fascinated me because most were a mica and quartz schist (greywacky) that was so easily frangible. The Jade was also a schist usually. The walls of the canyon were made of a dolomitic schist with quartz and jadeite inclusions. The harder schists were infrangible and hence they survived the abuse of the glaciation, whereas most of the schists broke along their planes and crumbled easily. you could see huge 5m boulders scattered, and they were hard schist as well. Right at the glacier face one half of the canyon was clearly a different rock while the other crumbling face was broken scree schist. it is my conclusion that these gorges aren't actually formed by the glacier. rather it is the quality of the rock that makes the gorge possible, and the glacier just works out the weak and loose bits. It was pretty fascinating.

At the lookout I got to see a very rare kea, the world's only Alpine parrot. He was a cute fella, not scared of me as I snapped pics rapidly. He approached within 2 m of me frequently. He seemed very smart. Kinda bulky for a parrot with a long hooked nose, green and grey coloration. When he flew he had bright white armpits with red underwings and tail. Anyway there are only an estimated 5000 of them surviving, almost all of them around Mount Cook/Aoraki so I was fortunate to see him. At least he can fly unlike NZs other birds.

Btw Mt Cook is the monster that feeds these glaciers. If wx were good I would be able to see the top of it at 12000'. But the cloud deck was at 400m which just started to cover the top of the glaciers.

Tomorrow I have two hike plans, one 8 hour hike to a knob that looks down on the valley (epic views of glacier and moraine valley out to the sea) and another that looks fun with rope bridges and waterfalls at 5.5 hours. The high one I'll only do if that cloud deck clears, because it would be a lot of pointless cardio if I couldn't get some good pics. Either way afterwards I'm booked for some hot baths, just. because that is awesome after a good hike. I knew I brought my togs for something.

I think I'll stay the night here again, and Monday I'll head back to Arthurs Pass and see if I can climb that mountain that I wanted to without certain death.

And at some point I need to figure out what I need to do with the rental. This is the first time in a while that I actually paid for rental insurance, and I'm keen to take advantage of it by doing nothing and returning the car with the donut and letting them deal with it. My policy covered tyre damage.

On the negative side, this island is undeveloped. One thing I enjoyed about the North was all the tramping tracks at every green space. I drove through some epic green spaces with majestic treeferns and other flora, but nobody lives here so nobody has cut trails through all of it. And this is no joke rain forest, shiggy 8-10 all the way, so I have no interest in bushbeating myself a track. I actually attempted it because I had an interest for about 50m, no bueno. However on this trip I'm missing the far north and south. Next time!