Guns don't kill people...

... this guy does.

if you see him... it's too late... don't even bother running.

part of the Kepler track. (Apr 15-16, 2009)

So while Kevin and Laura took the van around the Milford Sound area, Kimbo and I went up to one of the huts on the Kepler track. Max, who was on our kayak tour of Doubtful Sound the day before came for the day. The forecast was for rain, wind, and cold....


A very nice track... definitely the widest and well marked track we'd been on.


We met up with a fellow tramper we had hiked with on the Rakiura Track.


The hike was straight up for day one... which was nice to get above the tree line and hike on he ridge... a great view for the rest of the day.


You get a view back at Te Anu from the ridge.


Kimbo enjoying the day.


After reaching the Luxmoore Hut, I ran up to Mt. Luxmoore just in time to catch up with Max.


After summiting and eating lunch, we decided to check out the nearby Luxmoore caves near by.


Turned out to be a great exploration. Kimbo squeezing in.


Look at this joker.


Great stalagtites, stalagmites, etc...


During the night I heard lots of footsteps outside our window... went to the bathroom and found these guys creating havoc on the deck..


Beautiful Kea


They're very smart... and makes for some entertaining viewing.


The Luxmoore Hut


And what's a hike in NZ without a rainbow sighting?


On the way our we ran into these two who were on their way up... a nice place to say our goodbyes.

Learning to fly...

I'll just start out with a quote... not something I really live by... but I think it provides answers to folks like my ma, who always ask, "why?"...

Everyone who lives dies, yet not everyone who dies, has lived. We take these risks not to escape life, but to prevent life escaping us...

With my few days in Queenstown, I decided to take a short intro paragliding class. It's been one of those things that I have always known that I would love, and probably get into later in life... Anyhow, I decided to take this opportunity and take a PG1 class. Also, the school was recommended by a few folks. Though I was sore from running 40+ km back to the car the day before.



We weren't sure if we'd get to go up to Coronet Peak, due to the fog... but it looked like it would break up, so we headed up there to check it out. Here is a pic of my instructor Keith flying ahead to guide me through the landing.


... and into the clouds


Coronet Peak is a ski area.... from what I saw not too amazing...


And into the sea of clouds.


This is what you see when flying through a thin fog... that's me making a "brocken spectre" or a "glory" on my first REAL flight. I did some small flights to practice launching and landing yesterday.


Flying through some of the less foggy areas.


You can't really see me smiling... but... I had a big ole' grin the whole 10 min flight.


Third launch... I got a little more hang time catching some short lift off the ridges.


Looking down...


My view up...

Yup... another burgeoning hobby for moa...

Routeburn - Caples (April 17, 18, 19)

After going to the first hut on the Kepler (Luxmore Hut)... we met up with Kevin and Laura in Te Anu and headed up to Queenstown. Stayed at the holiday park, where crazy people tend to hang out... and hopped on the Routeburn Track the next day.


The Routeburn, after the Milford Track is a very popular track. So we made reservations for this hike 2 or 3 weeks prior. Kim crossing the first of many bridges on the Routeburn.


A very well maintained track, with some of the nicest huts you'll find anywhere. There are also private huts for hiker$ on a guided tour... they were building a private hut next to the Routeburn Falls hut we stayed at...


Could have done without these buzzing by every 15 min. or so...


The private hut under construction. The walk from the Routeburn Shelter Trailhead to the Routeburn Falls Hut took approx. 2 hours through a dense birch forest... you know you are close when you start hearing metallica on the boombox... and the helicoptors fly closer... not the kind of trail you hop on if you want to get away from it all...


A very nice hut, with seperate bunkrooms, kitchen with gas stove... and if you can decipher 25 of these languages the hut master gave you a chocolate bar... we only got 17 :(


The next day, we got a bit of a clearing, and was probably the most scenic day so far in NZ for me.


Up to Conical Hill?... an amazing 360 view awaited


... don't know what Kevin and Laura are doing...


Group shot at the top... we got pretty lucky, as we could see the clouds moving in, and in 30 min, this peak was covered in fog, as it had been for the last few days. We hiked past Mc...something hut, on to Howden Hut, which was a long day. Most folks hike out to the Divide completing the Routeburn Track, but since the shuttle back to Glenorchy is a pain, and spendy, we hopped on the Caples Track, taking us closer to our shevanagan.


The Caples Track was full of mushrooms.


Including this purple one...


A fern color palette.


More botany...


The Caples track was a lot more rugged compared to the Routeburn... here is Kim crossing some of the small streams on the Caples.


The Caples track... a little different from the Routeburn...


Laura fell victim to the Roots of Death... but with a little duct tape, she hobbled on. The day before, a hiker twisted her ankle and got a helicopter ride out... we think Laura just wanted a helicoptor ride...


We were welcomed at the Upper Caples hut by two hunters... who didn't get any deer. This was another long day of hiking... and with the help from some wine in a bag, we got some good rest. We were hoping to meet some folks on the track that left a car at the Caples Track trailhead... but we didn't, so I woke up early on day 3 to go on a long run.

Morning fog... slowly lifting.


After running 2 hours past mid caples hut to the trailhead, I figured I would be able to hitch a ride on the dirt road... no luck... 2 additional hours later not a single car had passed me... after I ran to the turn off to the Routeburn shelter 4 or 5 cars passed, but were full of hikers. So after running 40+ km... I finally got a ride... for about 100 yards... then had to run a few more km to the car. I devoured a few spoonfuls of Nutella... mmm... and drove back to the trailhead (30 km, with 4 stream crossings)... and still managed to beat Kim, Kev, and Laura.

I was sore the next day... but I still managed to hike up a hill over and over, and have enough coordination to impress the paragliding instructor enough to convince him that I could take off of Coronet Peak the day after...

Kayaking in Doubtful Sound...

Doubtful sound is the sound south of the more famous Milford Sound on the Southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound is less crowded due to the fact that you have to take a boat across a large lake (30 min), then hop on a bus (where the manapouri power station is located) to the actual sound.

During the drive, our guide told us that all these "sounds" are actually not "sounds" but rather "fjords."

Kim and I had planned to do a 2 day Doubtful Sound kayak tour, but that tour got canceled... so Kim and I signed up for the 1 day tour... which turned out ok, as we got to spend the whole day with our favorite rugby playing Frenchman, "Max." Who we had met in many scenic areas, but finally talked to on the Raikiura Track... which I may not have blogged about yet.


That's our man...


A Kea at the Manapouri Station Visitor Center. Curious birds, some say the smartest bird in the world, and even smarter than monkeys... which means it's probably smarter than many humans... and might take over the human race soon. But they are awesome to watch. On another hike, the ranger told us that the resident Kea's at his hut didn't like getting pics taken with SLRs... and they've learned to bum rush the paparazzi and break the lens with their beak.


Our first view of Doubtful Sound


A weka came to say hi during our instructor's talk.


One of the hundreds of waterfalls in the Doubtful Sound.




Our tour prep talk...


Re-filling our water.


Pretty amazing place to kayak...


And a day in this area isn't complete until you see some sort of rainbow.


And a cold swim...


Max is having fun... though it may not look like it.

Later that night we all met up at the Red Cliff Tavern in Te Anu for drinks and dinner... I highly reccommend the wild hare salad btw.

Farewell for now...