Trip Overview, Part 2

After the Kiakoura Coast Track, we drive 4.5 north through Marlborough wine region,

on our way to Marahau, just outside Abel Tasman National Park, where we will be kayaking.

We then take a ferry from the South to the North Island from Picton to Wellington through Cook Strait.

We will be spending a day exploring Wellington, including the Te Papa Museum. Then drive 3 hours north to the west coast of the north island to canoe the Whanganui River.

Then drive 2 hours north to Tongariro National Park stay at a lodge in Whakapapa Village.  The Tongariro Crossing hike will be one of our most difficult at 10 miles, ascend 2250 feet, descend 3700 feet, rated the best day tramp by Lonely Planet. 

Trip Overview, Part 1

Here is an overview of our upcoming adventures in New Zealand.

We are flying from Charlottesville to Charlotte, then to LA.  Then a direct flight to Auckland.  One last leg will get us to Queenstown on the South Island.  That's 24 hours of flying time (30 hours flying+layovers).

Less than 24 hours after landing we will begin the Milford Track, a 4-day, 3-night backpacking trip with hut camping.

Then we will spend three days in Queenstown while our fearless leader solo tramps through the bush.  The tentative schedule is first a day of recovery, laundry, and walking around town.    I will definitely be visiting the Kiwi Birdlife Park.

The second day in Queenstown will be our 'adventure day,' consisting of jet boating, bungy jumping, via ferrata, or canyoning, to name a few.  I just have not decided what I will be doing yet, but Tom wants to go jet boating.   The last day will be a quick drive to Arrowtown to explore an old gold mining town with an old Chinese settlement.

The next leg of our trip, after a 5.5 hour drive north will be two days of glacier trekking in Franz Joseph, the worlds steepest and fastest flowing commercially guided glacier.  We will hike up to the face of the glacier and explore the ice with crampons.

A sunset hike around Lake Matheson is also in the plans.

Then we will drive 4 hours north and then east to Arthur's Pass region and (the next day) out-and-back day-hike Avalanche Peak.  This will be one of the most scenic hikes, and the steepest at 3600' up in 2 miles (that's a 34% grade!). 

Then we will drive 3.5 hours east and then north to hike the Kaikoura Coast Track, a three-day backpacking trip through private farms.  We will be staying at farm homes along the way and our stuff will be shuttled for us!  So it's not really backpacking, but a series of day hiking adventures.  Minimal elevation change compared to previous hikes.

This is just the first half!  More info to come!

I re-evaluated my packing scheme and decided to forgo the suitcase and laptop.  I got some 2.5 gallon zipper bags to help organize my clothes in my top-loading backpack.  My green pack will be used for day hiking and will go under my car seat when not in use.


Backpack I am bringing to New Zealand.

From Ramsey's Draft

Day pack I am bringing to New Zealand. From Old Rag SNP

Tom will be bringing his day pack (as seen in this photo from last October), and a medium sized duffel bag (that will be checked and will hold some of my things too)

From Austin Mt-Furnace Mt Hike SNP

Tom was able to unlock an old Blackberry and bought a SIM card for it that will allow us to make calls from NZ as a local phone. It also has a cool free feature called Travel Journal which will track us in NZ and send emails with our location. It says you can have Facebook track it too.

Is it time to go yet?

Ok, so I'm a little excited to go to New Zealand. So excited I'm already packed, and I still have two weeks till we leave. Crazy, but I feel better now that I am done. Here is a picture of everything I am bringing. The suitcase is small enough to carry on, but I will be checking it because I will be carrying on the backpack (yes, it looks big but I have done it before). The light green bag is my frameless day-pack that will roll up in the suitcase, and the black camera case I will carry on also.

I am bringing my new D90 and two lenses: 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 (good light-weight travel lens) and Sigma 10-20mm (for creative stuff). I am also (maybe) bringing my laptop.

From Matt, our trip leader: "If you can manage it, consider packing only enough to do as carry-on / no checked baggage."

Life is hard and this I know.  Run Run Run.  Climb up. Hide.

Why do we fall?  So we can learn to pick ourselves up. 

Laugh, cry, eat, sleep.  But there is more to existence?

The Milford Track

Here is an update to my initial post on New Zealand.

Milford Track
Originally uploaded by nzimages

The highlight of the trip is our first adventure, the Milford Track. This 4 day hike is the most popular in NZ and is restricted to 90 people starting per day.  You have to stay in huts along the track in your reserved day, and there is no camping allowed. Average overnight temperatures will be around 35F while we are there.

Here's a quote from the track brochure:

Centred at latitude 45o south, Fiordland National Park lies in an area of predominately westerly airstreams, known as the Roaring 40s, delivering high rainfall and changeable weather patterns to the area. Cold temperatures, snow, strong winds and heavy rain can occur at any time of the year.

Day 1 - 3 miles, ascend ~150 feet, 1 to 1.5 hour.
Day 2 - 10.3 miles, ascend ~1150 feet, 5 to 6 hours.
Day 3 - 8.7 miles, ascend 1600 feet, descend 3180 feet, 6 to 7 hours; plus 3 (?) mile side trip to Sutherland Falls (1.5 hours) for total ~11.5 or 12 miles, 7.5 to 8.5 hours.
Day 4 - 11.2 miles, descend ~650 feet, 5.5 to 6 hours, catch 2 pm Ferry

Here in our tame Shenandoah mountains, our typical one-day hikes are:
10 miles, ascend 2000', descend 2000', 5 hours 

Our typical two-day backpacking trips are:
Day 1: 8 miles, ascend 2000', 5 hours
Day 2: 10 miles, descend 2000', 5 hours

All of my backpacking trips have been two days.  I have no idea how my body will deal with 3 and 1/2 days of difficult hiking.  Luckily we won't be carrying tents or sleeping bags, so our packs will be lighter than usual.  I am really worried about Day 3, a steep decline I have never seen the likes of before.  And the last day has a deadline!   I just hope that pain and exhaustion will not make me miss the scenery. 

Our last major hike was 2 and 1/2 months ago and I am feeling out of shape.  Sure, I have been going to the gym but nothing beats the real thing.  We have had an unusually cold winter and the trails are treacherous because the snow has not melted yet.  If the weather cooperates, we will be out there!

Bathroom Remodel

Remodeling a bathroom may not sound very interesting, but it is through the eyes of a kitten!

From Bathroom Remodel Project

We just finished a medium-difficulty upgrade to our guest bathroom.  It took 5 days straight out of out Christmas-New Years vacation and a week of evenings. Here's a quick list of the things we did:

• removed wall paper and painted
  
• replaced vinyl floor (removed toilet!)
• refinished wooden vanity cabinet
• replaced towel bars, light fixture, mirror, faucet, shower head
• installed new wall cabinet over toilet

Doesn't sound like much, but it was a lot of work!

At times I questioned myself (not out loud, it was my idea) for doing this.  Renters, like blonds, have more fun?  Tom was wonderful to work with even though the confined space was trying.  I can be difficult because I am a perfectionist, but he gave me my space when I got impatient and came back when I asked for help.

From Bathroom Remodel Project

While scraping wallpaper (which took almost 2 days), we enjoyed reminiscing over 90s songs on the Generations station (remember "Life is a Highway" - summer camp!).  The kittens enjoyed all the activity and posed for pictures.  I came up with the idea of narrating the album from the cats' perspective after they insisted in being in the shots.

From Bathroom Remodel Project

From Bathroom Remodel Project

I am very happy with the results.  And I think I emerged a better person and wife.