John’s former flatmates let us crash on the floor after John produces a suitcase of the national beer. The scene here is pretty crazy with, as near as I can count, 6 or 7 people living in the house. Two are from the Patagonia region of Argentina and she is all Latin with [...]
Archive for the ‘2008 New Zealand’ Category
Walk or take a helicopter?
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
While sentient, they are still evil
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
We were cruising along at a quick 4 mph pace and then I was flat on my backpack arms splayed out. The angled palm tree cut perfectly across the path and caught me just above the hair line. John said it was damn funny to watch after he realized I was still breathing; [...]
Not beter, just different
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Punakaiki
We are staying in a hostel type house in the sub-tropical rainforest where the tree ferns are nearly 10 meters tall. There is a huge high pressure system sitting over the Tazman Sea so the weather is hot, sunny, and dry which based on the vegetation is a very uncommon state. John and I have [...]
Sheep shit and lamb stew
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A long night in the hut; I was not feeling well and one of the hut mates was a prolific snorer. I woke before sunrise and headed out for an alpine pee as the first rays of morning hit the highest glaciers above me.
Upon awakening, John suggested we take a short scramble to the top [...]
Beats the Gaza strip
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
1000 meters in 2 hours made the passes of the PCT look easy. Granted I am somewhat out of shape but as we hike to Mueller hut (opened by Sir Edmund Hillary in 2003) I thought I was going to lose my cookies. If you have ever spent two hours on a stair [...]
First impressions are right….sorta
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
First impressions are often right but often they are only half of the story. As a result, we have an impression, albeit correct, that unfortunately closes us off to the rest of the person. The conversation got so bad in the hut that I almost suggested that we simply move on to get away [...]
Grab a ruler boys
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Howden hut to Mid-Caples
The well graded path gave way to something called a trail as we departed the tourist “milk run” and headed “back-country”. When we crossed our first really wet area I went up to my waist in a bog I figured would release me in a few thousand years….I would be known as [...]
Sound to fiord
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Howden to Milford Sound
Around 2am it sounded like a fire hose was directed on the roof of our hut. The low pressure in the Tasman Sea had arrived and with it the rain and more rain. I figured the next 24 hours would be spent at Howden as the prospect of tramping through a [...]
Land of Hobbits
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Routeburn falls to Howden
Welcome to the land of hobbits. As we ascend towards the gap in the mountain the weather was bright and sunny but we saw cotton clouds wisping through from the other side. As we crossed to the west we entered a new world of heavy fog and an amazing maritime temperate [...]
Far cry from throwing-up
Posted in 2008 New Zealand on February 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Kinloch to Routeburn Falls hut
The log book at the hut had entries from a dozen or more countries in the last two days and this evening we are sharing the back country shelters with languages from around the globe. We are trekking one of the most famous routes on the south island and we [...]
