Watching it rain in Vancouver

We've been home since Feb. 23, after spending a few days in Honolulu on our return from New Zealand. Suffice to say that the winter weather here in the Pacific Northwest is a bit different from either NZ or Hawaii - which is one of the main reasons we got out of here in the first place. It's been particularly cold & rainy this winter with only a few really pretty, sunny days that invite you to go outside. We went on an easy hike in the Columbia gorge last week (Washington side of the river) along the Pacific Crest Trail. We were able to go about 5 miles along the gradually ascending route before we entered the snow zone starting around 1500 ft. and had to go back. Had lunch in a nice clearing next to a stream amid the snow covered trees and plants. Was OK as long as the wind didn't find us - warm enough at any rate with the sun reflecting off the snow. Made for a good stretch of the legs by the time we got back to the car.

We'll be heading out on May 1 to go visit Mike, Jennah, Kevin & the grand kids in Georgia. Will be taking a leisurely drive cross country and visiting some National Parks along the way. Looking forward to seeing Yosemite, Zion and Monument Valley on the way across. Also looking forward to stopping by to visit John & Faye Jackson in Mountain Home, Arkansas. John was an NFO in VS-29 with me back in 1975-77, and we went thru Pax River together in the same TPS class in 1978. Haven't seen them in nearly 30 years. It will take us about 2.5 weeks to make the trip, arriving in Valdosta on the 18th where we'll be staying in a 1906 victorian home in the older section of town - a place we stayed in back in December of 2007 during our first visit.

We'll be taking our sweet time on the return leg too, starting June 1. Looking forward to seeing my old Naval Academy roomate Don Tanaka & his wife Susan in Cincinnati, then continuing on to see the Black Hills, Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone on the return. I've also booked a special 40th anniversary weekend for Rita and I from June 6-9, but can't divulge the location just yet - keeping it a secret from Rita for as long as possible.





We really miss New Zealand. Although we've been there several times now we still marvel at the sheer beauty of the place and the abundance of wildlife. Unlike the hikes we've taken in other places, where the sounds of the forest are silent (Europe) or muted (US & Australia), the forests in New Zealand are always alive with sound. It really is a special place on the earth. Have included a film clip of one of our Kaka friends during our stay on Stewart Island - one of the places we hope to return one day.

Heading Home

The view from the porch of our "crib" in Te Anau


Well, unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and so it is with our New Zealand trip. Three months in this beautiful country and we feel as if we've barely scratched the surface. We depart Queenstown today for Auckland where we remain overnight and then catch the return flight to Honolulu on Saturday morning (NZ time). We then spend a few days there before flying home to Vancouver on the 23rd.

The past 5 days in Queenstown have been as nice as ever - a nice wrapup to our time in NZ. We spent days in both Glenorchy and in Arrowtown just enjoying the scenery and the trails since the weather continued to cooperate with lots of sun and mild temps. Here are a few final photos.




Went back up to the Deer Park one day to take advantage of the sunny day. Was a bit overcast when we first visited, plus it's just a real nice place to go and spend time near the city. The photo above is taken from one of the Lord of the Rings filming locations, but with the correct perspective showing Queenstown and the Lake below.



One fun thing we did was to go on the jet boats on the Shotover River near here. They're essentially 12 person jet skis that go zipping along the vertical walls of the Shotover River canyon at speeds of up to 50 mph, then are thrown into a spin by the driver. The result is a 360 deg. spin going from high speed to zero within the narrow canyon. Makes for a real adrenalin rush. The photo above just shows a glimpse of the river from the departure ramp. The real fun starts about 300 yards downstream.



A final look at the Remarkables from the living room of our apartment in Queenstown.

Looks like we timed this pretty well weather-wise. After a solid week of uninterrupted sunshine we have a rainy day for our flight north to Auckland.

Time to go load the car for the drive to the airport. Kia Ora from New Zealand everyone.

Te Anau

Took a side trip to an old gold mining town near Queenstown on our last day here. The town of Bendigo was up in the foothills above Wanaka - about an hour from here - and was as desolate as anything we've ever seen in Australia. Wouldn't have believed that New Zealand had places like this. Anyway, here's a photo of what's left of the town.


Drove over to Te Anau for a week from the 8th to the 15th. Another one of the pretty little places we visited briefly before but wanted to go back to. The weather was a little dodgy at first - rainy and cold - but it finally cleared up enough to go on some walks. Stayed cold though - lows down to 32 deg (F) at night although warming up to the 50's and 60's during the day.
Here's a picture of sunset on the first night.


Te Anau is the gateway for several terrific walks, and we tried to do them justice. Some of the prettiest trails we've seen and some great scenery along the way. Numerous LOTR film locations on the particular walk above.

It's also the gateway to Milford Sound - one of the World Heritage areas and famous for its beauty. The postcard photo is of Mitre Peak. Here's Rita standing in front of it. Not as spectacular as it would be on a sunny day, but sensational nevertheless.


Went on one of the long walks thru the mountains and eventually emerged at a trampers hut about 3 hours in. Here's the view from our lunch spot.

Heading back to Queenstown now for our last few days in this beautiful country. We're there until the 20th when we fly up to Auckland for one night, then connect with our return flight to Honolulu. Should be back home in Vancouver a week from today - or the evening of the 23rd.

Back to Glenorchy

The weather yesterday was spectacular, so we headed back up the lake towards Glenorchy to do a couple of short hikes and generally pass the day in the beautiful little town. One of our walks was along the Glenorchy Track which goes for a mile or so from the township around a wetland near the Dart River. Quite scenic as you can see. As is frequently the case in this area, the marshes were a film venue for LOTR - it was the area that Frodo, Sam & Smeagle traversed on the way to Mordor (it's where they see the dead bodies in the marshes, Frodo falls in, they hide from the Nazgul, etc.).

Here are a few more pictures of another of our favorite places in NZ.



A nice place for lunch


We had originally planned to spend the last 12 days of the trip in Te Anau, but we're liking Queenstown so much that we've decided to cut our stay there a little short - just a week - then come back up here for the last 5 days.

We depart on Sunday the 8th to Te Anau, returning here on the 15th.

The Routeburn Track

Some of the beautiful scenery near Glenorchy


Went back up to the Glenorchy area yesterday to hike part of the Routeburn track - one of New Zealand's Great Walks. The whole thing takes several days to traverse, but we only did a part of it...up the valley for about 5 miles to the first overnighters hut.

The color of the water in the rivers here is incredible - the most aquamarine blue you can imagine, and clear as glass. Am told that the color comes from the glaciers up the valley which supply about 90% of the water.


It was a fairly easy walk into the valley - mostly level with only a few scrambles along the way. The reward at the end was a spectacular picnic spot on a glorious day.





This being New Zealand they provide everything you can think of to make a hiker's job easier. There are numerous "wire bridges" spanning the various major streams - no need to get you feet wet unless you're somewhere really remote.




Today we went up to Deer Park near Queenstown. It's one of those drive thru wild animal parks where you can feed the animals along the way. Rita greatly enjoyed getting up close and personal with some of the locals.




As luck would have it, this area was a major filming venue for LOTR. Here's the lake along which the people of Rowhan fled towards Minas Tirith (told you we were in to this stuff). Big battle site too, and it's only 10 minutes from downtown Queenstown.




Here's the cliff that Aragorn was dragged over.


One more critter from Deer Park


And a last look at the countryside around Glenorchy

Queenstown

Spending the next 10 days in Queenstown, the "jewel of the South Island" and one of our favorite places in New Zealand. The photo above is the view at sunset from our apartment overlooking lake Wakapitu. This whole area is just gorgeous, with tons of things to see and do. It stylizes itself as the adventure capital of the world and I wouldn't argue the point.

The weather has been cooperating so we've been doing a lot of walking. Here's a photo of Rita heading up the track near Arrowtown - a small gold rush town about 10 minutes from here.





Glenorchy


Took a side trip the other day to Glenorchy at the north end of the lake. It was a Lord of the Rings location tour, which we enjoyed very much. Not much to the charming little town as you can see from this photo of the library - hours are 2 to 3 PM on Fridays only...seriously.




The ride up was spectacular. The lake is the deepest in New Zealand and is really pretty on a sunny day.




According to local lore this was the Ent forest in the LOTR films, and this particular tree was Peter Jackson's inspiration for the face of Treebeard - the head Ent (and you thought we weren't into this stuff). Judge for yourself.



An altogether enjoyable day


In the Ent forest



This is a somewhat famous sign just outside of Glenorchy, heading up the valley towards the walking tracks. Guess this makes it official - this really is Paradise. Just wish the "No exit" part was true as well.

Stewart Island

We have a new entry on our "favorite places on earth" list: Stewart Island. Our week here was one the most enjoyable we've had anywhere. It's a quiet, peaceful little slice of paradise that's about the same size as the island of Kauai, but with only about 500 permanent residents. Most of the island is remote, isolated bush with lots of tramping tracks and loads of threatened and endangered critters - there are 15,000 Kiwi birds here for example, thanks to the fact that they've made it a national park and have severely restricted development.

The photo above is the view from our "bach" or cottage.


We had several Kakas come by every day to say hello. Very melodic songs and not shy about coming close for a handout, as you can see. It was a treat just to sit on the lanai and watch them.



Did several hikes. On one we came across the remains of an old whaling station. Here's the detritus from past days - a trypot (for reducing the oil from the blubber) and some anchors, windlasses and other assorted junk.



Just one of the many beautiful vistas on one of the hikes.


The rural natrure of the island is best represented by the photo above of a roadside call box - an old fashioned hand-crank telephone in the middle of nowhere.


Took a boat trip one day along the southwestern side of the island. One of the most remote areas on earth. Here are a couple of shots from the trip.



One of the grottoes we went into on the zodiac.



Our Kaka buddies.


Also spent one day over on Ulva island - in the inlet that forms the bay of Stewart. Lots of birds, including the ground nesting Weka shown here. Must have seen 20 of them during our tramps, and they're usually quite difficult to see in the wild.


Some of the typical jungle we wandered thru for a week. Was a bit drizzly and cool for the most part, but not enough rain to keep us indoors until our last day when the sky really opened up.

In Queenstown now where we'll be for 10 days.