Saturday, our final day in Australia before flying on Sunday, turned out to be our worst day of the trip.
We started out the morning by returning to Shute Harbor from Hamilton Island via the Ferry. When our luggage returned to us, in transit, one of the wheels had broken off so we had to carry the luggage to the car. I think we'll have to retire your luggage Grandpa and Grandma.
We were planning on driving 3:30 hours to Townsville which we would fly out from today. Along the way, we stopped for lunch, and then I told Ted I'd be willing to drive the rest into Townsville. This was the only leg of the trip which we did not book a hotel room. We had changed some of our trip plans prior to leaving home, and decided we'd look for a place on a whim. BIG BIG BIG MISTAKE.
We rolled into Townsville around 2:30 to hit up the shops downtown only to find out they all closed at 2. Then it was on to looking for a place to stay. Long story short, we spent the next 4 hours searching near and far in the town of 140,000 using our TomTom as our guide and EVERY SINGLE HOTEL WAS BOOKED! We kid you not. EVERY ONE! Talk about feeling rejected and discouraged. Apparently they said there was some big rugby match going on in the city is which one receptionist told us. Finally at 6 we decided we'd drive an hour back to the previous town to see if they had anything available. On the way out of town Ted spotted a Holiday Park and we decided to see if there was anything left. He went in, came back out and said all of the cabins were booked, but they had campground spots available. I'm SOLD! So, Ted and I camped in the little Toyota Corolla Hatchback. We put down the back seats, slept on the hard back end of the car and called it a night. Only cost $20 and we got a hot shower in the morning. Tossed and turned all night as my side started hurting. Ted says I took the sheet and the good pillow, depriving him of a good night's sleep. In between all the wake-ups, I did have a dream that Ted and I were able to try out for the show, Amazing Race, and made it through the first two rounds of screening...
Then today, 8June, we are now sitting at the airport, awaiting our departure. We are to fly with Jet Star down to Sydney before we hook back up with Air New Zealand. In booking our flight, Air New Zealand doesn't fly out of Townsville, so Ted booked with Jet Star. What we failed to realize, was the fact that we would be charged $90 for being 9kg over their baggage limit. GRRRRR! I guess staying at the campground was a good thing.
Anyhow, that should about do it for our trip. It's been an amazing adventure that we both enjoyed so much. Not sure when we'll make it back here, but hopefully one day. Thanks for keeping tabs on us for those of you who read our blog. Hope you enjoyed our commentary, pictures, etc.
See some of you very soon (whether you like it or not)!
Love, Ted and Britt
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 6 - Britt in the deep blue sea!
On Friday, we spent our day out on the Great Barrier Reef. We booked a full day excursion with the Fantasea company, who has a large platform out on the Hardy Reef. We traveled via a large yacht that had three levels. We were served a small meal on the way to the reef with some pastries, breakfast pizza and fruit. While on the ship, I signed up for a 45 minute scuba dive session, which finally allowed me to utilize my scuba certification that I earned two years ago, which I can now say after seeing the reef was well worth it. Luckily, they also had a semi-submersed sub with glass bottom at the reef platform that allowed non-swimmers to use to see the reef up close and personal, which Britt planned to do while I scuba dived. As soon as we arrived at the reef, the large amount of aquatic life was evident with large schools of fish swimming around the platform. As soon as we were able to get off the boat, I was whisked away to scuba dive and I gave Britt a huge hug and kiss and told her to enjoy my life insurance if I didn’t come back. I was quite nervous after not scuba diving for a couple years and watching the dateline and 60 minutes episodes on TV about people dying on the reef. It definitely seemed like I would have the same fate because I swear Britt and I watched like 10 of the episodes right before we left.
For the scuba diving, there was a separate platform that had an under ground area to allow everyone to get fitted up with gear and get the correct amount of weight to float correctly in the water. It was quite amazing to see the amount of fish life just underneath the platform while I was suiting up. It was very exciting. While suiting up, I struck up a conversation with my dive buddy, Jerry. He was from Santa Barbara, California and over in Australia on business. He is a designer specializing in computer interfaces that are used the cabs of heavy duty machinery. I told him I worked for John Deere in Waterloo and he actually knew where it was and had actually been to PEC. He had done some work with John Deere on the 9000 series cab with someone with the last name of Dunkin. The name didn’t ring a bell with me. This just goes to tell how small the world really is.
Once fitted up, we embarked on our scuba journey. For the first 8 meters, we held onto a rope to help everyone get acclimated to the water and their equipment. Fish were swimming all around and I could see a huge school of fish swimming around on my left side. They looked just like the videos you see on TV, where the school looks like it is dancing and changing formation every second. It was amazing. On my right side was the reef edge, which was a steep cliff with hundreds of different coral and clams attached to it. The coral was all different colors and many different species of fish were feeding on it. I could not believe how many different species of fish there were swimming around. The colors of the fish are beautiful. Also, due to the large school of small fish, there were many larger predator fish swimming around. Some of the large fish were easily the same length as me. During the dive, the guide showed us many things and allowed us to hold onto a few pieces of coral and starfish. On the way back up to the platform, we had to take a 5 min decompression stop at 5 meters deep, which gave our guide an opportunity to feed the fish. He had a little orange container, which the fish recognized instantly. A large swarm of fish that were a little larger than the size of my head swarmed around his hand and around the group. The guide went in front of each of us and let out a few pieces of food, which made the fish go crazy around my head. It was really cool. The dive was amazing and I wish I could have stayed down longer. I will definitely be making a trip back to the Great Barrier some day to get some more scuba diving in.
After the dive, I made it back to the main platform and found Britt. She looked very depressed and said “Oh, it’s you.” I said, “What is the matter? Why aren’t you happy to see me?” She was depressed because she was hoping I wouldn’t come back and she would get the life insurance money to buy many new pairs of shoes and even build a teal house with teal carpets and walls. Sorry Britt, your dream hasn’t come true yet, maybe next time.
I had some plans of my own, since I had watched the dateline episodes and really was hoping to start my retirement early with lots of fishing, golfing and watching football games. As you can see from the picture below, my plan worked……..
Just kidding about all the jibberish above. As you can see, Britt finally overcame her fears and went snorkeling. While on the ferry to the reef, Britt and I signed up for a guided snorkeling tour. The tour was with a real life Marine Biologist. The same type that Britt wanted to be until she found out that a Marine Biologist does all their work in the water. Before our guided tour, I got Britt all suited up with her flippers, mask, snorkel, wetsuit and life jacket. Once equipped, she looked like a professional snorkeler. We met up with our guide and got on the platform. Luckily, the guide had two life preservers tied together, so she could pull her groups along and show them different things along the reef. Britt did not let go of this at all once we got in the water. It took her a little bit of time to get used to her snorkel and kicking her feet, but once she got going she did awesome. The guide took us to various spots on the reef and told us the different names of the fish, coral, and other marine life. It was really cool and it was awesome to finally see Britt out in the water enjoying herself.
Once done with the tour, we got out of the water and I had bite to eat. Britt enjoyed herself so much on the guided tour, she decided to go out on the reef again with me. This time, we had no life preserver and no guide. We got into the water and I instantly found out who would become Britt’s life preserver, ME! Even though, Britt was in salt water, had a 5 mm wet suit and life jacket on, she still thought she was going to go under. She had a hold of me and wasn’t going to let go. One time, I was trying to adjust the camera to take a picture and had to get both hand free from Britt. Once I did this, Britt grab ahold of my back and didn’t care that I was going under. As long as she was above the water and alive, she didn’t care. I finally had to stop doing everything and tell her she was going to be fine and that she wasn’t going to drown. After this, she seemed to settle down and didn’t need to hold onto me. Before I knew, Britt was swimming around the reef like a pro and I had to look around every 30 seconds to see where she was. She was swimming around the reef like mad and taking pictures of everything. Before we knew it, our time out in the water was over and we had to get back on the boat. It wasvreally disappointing for both Britt and I because it seemed like we had just got into the water. I really wished we had more time out on the reef because it was awesome to finally see Britt out in the water comfortable and having fun. I think this may be the beginning to Britt overcoming her fear of water and finally enjoying some water activities with me. Don’t worry Janet, I’m not pressuring her into any of this. The swimming lessons she took at the YMCA before the trip may also have helped her out.
We took about 50 pictures under the water and look forward to seeing how they turn out. Once out of the water, we headed back to Hamilton Island. We were so tired from the big adventure, we decided to take a nap and didn't wake up until the next day, which turned out to be the worst day of the trip....
Britt’s Version:
Ted pushed me in the water Mom. I swear he did! And he told me I’d be just fine and to give him a thumbs up so he could one more picture of me.
Anyhow, I didn’t tell you guys that before we went on our trip, I got up the nerve to call the Y and sign up for some private swim lessons. Although I didn’t really “learn” how to swim, it at least gave me the opportunity to be more comfortable in the water, even go under water, and also practice with snorkeling gear (I bought some from Target for a couple of my lessons). Ted never pressured me one bit, I did it all on my own.
My only regret is, that I wish I could’ve had more time in the water. After I was out there, I was amazed at how beautiful the Reef was and all the different life that exists underwater. Pretty incredible!
Large school of small fish swimming at the surface
Hardy Reef (Part of the Great Barrier Reef)
For the scuba diving, there was a separate platform that had an under ground area to allow everyone to get fitted up with gear and get the correct amount of weight to float correctly in the water. It was quite amazing to see the amount of fish life just underneath the platform while I was suiting up. It was very exciting. While suiting up, I struck up a conversation with my dive buddy, Jerry. He was from Santa Barbara, California and over in Australia on business. He is a designer specializing in computer interfaces that are used the cabs of heavy duty machinery. I told him I worked for John Deere in Waterloo and he actually knew where it was and had actually been to PEC. He had done some work with John Deere on the 9000 series cab with someone with the last name of Dunkin. The name didn’t ring a bell with me. This just goes to tell how small the world really is.
Once fitted up, we embarked on our scuba journey. For the first 8 meters, we held onto a rope to help everyone get acclimated to the water and their equipment. Fish were swimming all around and I could see a huge school of fish swimming around on my left side. They looked just like the videos you see on TV, where the school looks like it is dancing and changing formation every second. It was amazing. On my right side was the reef edge, which was a steep cliff with hundreds of different coral and clams attached to it. The coral was all different colors and many different species of fish were feeding on it. I could not believe how many different species of fish there were swimming around. The colors of the fish are beautiful. Also, due to the large school of small fish, there were many larger predator fish swimming around. Some of the large fish were easily the same length as me. During the dive, the guide showed us many things and allowed us to hold onto a few pieces of coral and starfish. On the way back up to the platform, we had to take a 5 min decompression stop at 5 meters deep, which gave our guide an opportunity to feed the fish. He had a little orange container, which the fish recognized instantly. A large swarm of fish that were a little larger than the size of my head swarmed around his hand and around the group. The guide went in front of each of us and let out a few pieces of food, which made the fish go crazy around my head. It was really cool. The dive was amazing and I wish I could have stayed down longer. I will definitely be making a trip back to the Great Barrier some day to get some more scuba diving in.
After the dive, I made it back to the main platform and found Britt. She looked very depressed and said “Oh, it’s you.” I said, “What is the matter? Why aren’t you happy to see me?” She was depressed because she was hoping I wouldn’t come back and she would get the life insurance money to buy many new pairs of shoes and even build a teal house with teal carpets and walls. Sorry Britt, your dream hasn’t come true yet, maybe next time.
I had some plans of my own, since I had watched the dateline episodes and really was hoping to start my retirement early with lots of fishing, golfing and watching football games. As you can see from the picture below, my plan worked……..
Just kidding about all the jibberish above. As you can see, Britt finally overcame her fears and went snorkeling. While on the ferry to the reef, Britt and I signed up for a guided snorkeling tour. The tour was with a real life Marine Biologist. The same type that Britt wanted to be until she found out that a Marine Biologist does all their work in the water. Before our guided tour, I got Britt all suited up with her flippers, mask, snorkel, wetsuit and life jacket. Once equipped, she looked like a professional snorkeler. We met up with our guide and got on the platform. Luckily, the guide had two life preservers tied together, so she could pull her groups along and show them different things along the reef. Britt did not let go of this at all once we got in the water. It took her a little bit of time to get used to her snorkel and kicking her feet, but once she got going she did awesome. The guide took us to various spots on the reef and told us the different names of the fish, coral, and other marine life. It was really cool and it was awesome to finally see Britt out in the water enjoying herself.
Once done with the tour, we got out of the water and I had bite to eat. Britt enjoyed herself so much on the guided tour, she decided to go out on the reef again with me. This time, we had no life preserver and no guide. We got into the water and I instantly found out who would become Britt’s life preserver, ME! Even though, Britt was in salt water, had a 5 mm wet suit and life jacket on, she still thought she was going to go under. She had a hold of me and wasn’t going to let go. One time, I was trying to adjust the camera to take a picture and had to get both hand free from Britt. Once I did this, Britt grab ahold of my back and didn’t care that I was going under. As long as she was above the water and alive, she didn’t care. I finally had to stop doing everything and tell her she was going to be fine and that she wasn’t going to drown. After this, she seemed to settle down and didn’t need to hold onto me. Before I knew, Britt was swimming around the reef like a pro and I had to look around every 30 seconds to see where she was. She was swimming around the reef like mad and taking pictures of everything. Before we knew it, our time out in the water was over and we had to get back on the boat. It wasvreally disappointing for both Britt and I because it seemed like we had just got into the water. I really wished we had more time out on the reef because it was awesome to finally see Britt out in the water comfortable and having fun. I think this may be the beginning to Britt overcoming her fear of water and finally enjoying some water activities with me. Don’t worry Janet, I’m not pressuring her into any of this. The swimming lessons she took at the YMCA before the trip may also have helped her out.
We took about 50 pictures under the water and look forward to seeing how they turn out. Once out of the water, we headed back to Hamilton Island. We were so tired from the big adventure, we decided to take a nap and didn't wake up until the next day, which turned out to be the worst day of the trip....
Britt’s Version:
Ted pushed me in the water Mom. I swear he did! And he told me I’d be just fine and to give him a thumbs up so he could one more picture of me.
Anyhow, I didn’t tell you guys that before we went on our trip, I got up the nerve to call the Y and sign up for some private swim lessons. Although I didn’t really “learn” how to swim, it at least gave me the opportunity to be more comfortable in the water, even go under water, and also practice with snorkeling gear (I bought some from Target for a couple of my lessons). Ted never pressured me one bit, I did it all on my own.
My only regret is, that I wish I could’ve had more time in the water. After I was out there, I was amazed at how beautiful the Reef was and all the different life that exists underwater. Pretty incredible!
Large school of small fish swimming at the surface
Hardy Reef (Part of the Great Barrier Reef)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
June 4-5
Spent the 4th driving 8+ hours up to the Whitsunday Islands. I told Ted I could drive some for him, but I found myself being able to read in the car without getting a headache for once and never ended up driving a lick. Thanks Ted! We got to our Holiday Park around dusk and decided to hit up the main drag and find a place for dinner. When we got out of the car, Ted had this perplexing look on his face. He says, “I don’t know where my camera is.” I told him I never saw him bring it to the car so I didn’t think he had brought it along. He thought he had. We walked around and found a seafood place to eat dinner which was pretty decent. Head back to our cabin at the park to find Ted’s camera bag with two cameras and our camcorder laying on the table of our porch. Oops Ted! I think he’s testing the locals to see if stealing is in their blood—first with his wallet in New Zealand and now the camera bag. Would’ve been pretty devasted had someone taken the camera with all of our vacation pictures! Won’t let him live those down, but lucky to not lose either. Could it be an early case of Alzheimers??
Today (Thursday) we were up early to catch our ferry to the island we were staying on (Hamilton Island). I had called the previous night to book for the 6:55 departure time. We got to the dock just as the ferry was departing. Another oops. I blamed it on Ted wanting to sleep an extra five minutes and then taking FOREVER figuring out how to pay for our parking spot. He blamed it on me who apparently said waking up at 5:40 would give us enough time to leave by 6:25 (and no, we didn’t leave at 6:25). Either way, we figured out after that we would’ve still had to buy tickets to get on the ferry which we had thought was included so I doubt we would’ve made it anyways. We caught the next ferry an hour later and arrived on the island pretty early. Checked our bags in and decided to check out the small island. How do you figure they get around out here? Well, it’s either by foot (and you better have your walking shoes on to walk these hills) or by renting a buggy (golf cart). So we rented ourselves a golf cart for 24 hours and strolled around for quite some time. Parked the cart for a bit and went on a short hike back to a secluded beach. I went swimming while Ted sunbathed. No, wait, otherway around. Who am I kidding? Had the place to ourselves for an hour until two middle-aged women decided to check out the beach. I guess I missed the sign that said it was a topless beach (there never really was one), because as I was sitting up to see who walked by, I noticed one was missing an important part of a bathing suit! I figured it was time for Ted and I to get on our way….
Other than that, just rode around the island and watched the sunset from a lookout point. Also daydreamed as we walked by the realty company’s window checking out the housing market on the island.
Today (Thursday) we were up early to catch our ferry to the island we were staying on (Hamilton Island). I had called the previous night to book for the 6:55 departure time. We got to the dock just as the ferry was departing. Another oops. I blamed it on Ted wanting to sleep an extra five minutes and then taking FOREVER figuring out how to pay for our parking spot. He blamed it on me who apparently said waking up at 5:40 would give us enough time to leave by 6:25 (and no, we didn’t leave at 6:25). Either way, we figured out after that we would’ve still had to buy tickets to get on the ferry which we had thought was included so I doubt we would’ve made it anyways. We caught the next ferry an hour later and arrived on the island pretty early. Checked our bags in and decided to check out the small island. How do you figure they get around out here? Well, it’s either by foot (and you better have your walking shoes on to walk these hills) or by renting a buggy (golf cart). So we rented ourselves a golf cart for 24 hours and strolled around for quite some time. Parked the cart for a bit and went on a short hike back to a secluded beach. I went swimming while Ted sunbathed. No, wait, otherway around. Who am I kidding? Had the place to ourselves for an hour until two middle-aged women decided to check out the beach. I guess I missed the sign that said it was a topless beach (there never really was one), because as I was sitting up to see who walked by, I noticed one was missing an important part of a bathing suit! I figured it was time for Ted and I to get on our way….
Other than that, just rode around the island and watched the sunset from a lookout point. Also daydreamed as we walked by the realty company’s window checking out the housing market on the island.
June 2-3
It’s now Tuesday night and I thought I’d update the last few days even though we won’t be able to post today.
Yesterday (Monday), was our last day in New Zealand. We didn’t fly out until noon, so Ted and I went downtown Queenstown and ate breakfast at The Bakery again. Took our time and then walked around for a bit before we headed to the airport. Security within New Zealand airports, flying domestically, is extremely lax in some airports. We were surprised when we flew from Hamilton to Christchurch that we or our bags weren’t even screened.
Having some free time yesterday, I had a hard time putting down the book I brought along to read, “Pillars of the Earth”. Hopefully I can finish the book before we return home (I’m 400 with 600 to go!). While I spent time reading on the plane yesterday, Ted caught up on South Park episodes he downloaded to his iPod.
We made it into Brisbane, Australia last night around 6, welcomed by rain. Brisbane received 4” of rain yesterday which will bring the town out of a Level 6 water restriction. Not sure what level 6 consists of, but we heard plenty of talk on the radio about it today. Apparently, with all the rain, they will be allowed to water their lawn, and wash their cars certain times during the day. Brisbane, along with other cities here along the coast are in a huge water crisis and sounds as if it will only be getting worse as more people move into the city. Our B&B hosts from New Zealand said some haven’t been able to water their lawns for over four years!
Today Ted and I drove North and stopped at the late Steve Irwin’s Australian Zoo. Spent about five hours walking and exploring everything from croc’s to kanagaroo’s to dingo’s. As you can see by the pictures, we were even allowed to pet the roo’s! They also had a snake area, and I only counted 11 venomous snakes that live in Australia. Yikes! Another picture you’ll see is a replica of the salt water crocodile which can grow to 27 feet. I think he could take Ted in one bite.
From there we drove another two hours to Hervey Bay to stay the night. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we’ll drive 500+ miles up the coast to the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsunday’s consists of 72 small islands and is the start of the Great Barrier Reef.
Random Notes:
I don’t think we ever mentioned the condition of the roads in New Zealand. I don’t believe we saw a pothole the entire trip. All of their roads are like new, and it seemed as though we ran into road crews every 30 miles (and I’m not exaggerating either) on the North Island making minor repairs. It was incredible the number of road crews out fixing the smallest of cracks or holes or what have you.
Stopped for a few groceries in Australia tonight. Good news: 24 pack of pop was on sale: $9.99 originally $17.00. A savings of $7.01! What a bargain.
Yesterday (Monday), was our last day in New Zealand. We didn’t fly out until noon, so Ted and I went downtown Queenstown and ate breakfast at The Bakery again. Took our time and then walked around for a bit before we headed to the airport. Security within New Zealand airports, flying domestically, is extremely lax in some airports. We were surprised when we flew from Hamilton to Christchurch that we or our bags weren’t even screened.
Having some free time yesterday, I had a hard time putting down the book I brought along to read, “Pillars of the Earth”. Hopefully I can finish the book before we return home (I’m 400 with 600 to go!). While I spent time reading on the plane yesterday, Ted caught up on South Park episodes he downloaded to his iPod.
We made it into Brisbane, Australia last night around 6, welcomed by rain. Brisbane received 4” of rain yesterday which will bring the town out of a Level 6 water restriction. Not sure what level 6 consists of, but we heard plenty of talk on the radio about it today. Apparently, with all the rain, they will be allowed to water their lawn, and wash their cars certain times during the day. Brisbane, along with other cities here along the coast are in a huge water crisis and sounds as if it will only be getting worse as more people move into the city. Our B&B hosts from New Zealand said some haven’t been able to water their lawns for over four years!
Today Ted and I drove North and stopped at the late Steve Irwin’s Australian Zoo. Spent about five hours walking and exploring everything from croc’s to kanagaroo’s to dingo’s. As you can see by the pictures, we were even allowed to pet the roo’s! They also had a snake area, and I only counted 11 venomous snakes that live in Australia. Yikes! Another picture you’ll see is a replica of the salt water crocodile which can grow to 27 feet. I think he could take Ted in one bite.
From there we drove another two hours to Hervey Bay to stay the night. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we’ll drive 500+ miles up the coast to the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsunday’s consists of 72 small islands and is the start of the Great Barrier Reef.
Random Notes:
I don’t think we ever mentioned the condition of the roads in New Zealand. I don’t believe we saw a pothole the entire trip. All of their roads are like new, and it seemed as though we ran into road crews every 30 miles (and I’m not exaggerating either) on the North Island making minor repairs. It was incredible the number of road crews out fixing the smallest of cracks or holes or what have you.
Stopped for a few groceries in Australia tonight. Good news: 24 pack of pop was on sale: $9.99 originally $17.00. A savings of $7.01! What a bargain.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
May 31st - June 1st
Saturday saw us up and at ‘em just after 7. We took our time getting ready as we didn’t have to be to Milford Sound until 3 pm. A five hour drive from the Holiday Park we stayed. The drive was long and windy as most of our journey has been. I am having an exceptionally good time driving on these roads and may try out for the NASCAR or Indy car circuit when I get home, if I get bored with my current job of course. It is pretty amazing how rural it is on the South Island. The night before we drove 160 miles before we saw another town. We have no idea how people get groceries, fuel, medical assistance out in the rural areas. We’re assuming that they simply don’t and live of the land just like in the good ole’ days.
We stopped in Queenstown at the bakery for breakfast. Britt had an apple cinnamon roll and I had half a boysenberry stick (only half because Britt must eat half of all my food). Filled up for gas at a whopping $81, which is a lot for the size of car we are driving. A guy next to me was filling up his SUV and he was well over $100. Gas is currently $2.03/liter. The mountains in Queenstown are covered in snow and town is getting ready for the snow season. Queenstown reminds us of Dillon, Colorado with the hundreds of condos and resorts and the ski shops all over.
After grabbing breakfast, we continued our trek to Milford Sound. The drive was quite beautiful as we made our way into New Zealand’s Fjordland. We made a stop at a picnic area and a large Kea (looks like a large green parrot) swooped down on top of a motor home. The women sitting in the vehicle came running out wondering what the heck had just hit their vehicle. Kea’s must be very smart as he attempted several times with his beak to open the top hatch on the motorhome. Luckily, the owners had locked up the inside or they may have had a pet Kea with a razor sharp beak and claws.
We continued to make our way through Fjordland park and came up to Homer Tunnel. Homer Tunnel was made back in 1931 and took 4 years to make. The areas is susceptible to avalanches and three men perished while making the tunnel due to this (I guess is was due to the 200 km/hr winds that the avalanched produces that killed them, not the avalanche itself). We pushed on through the small tunnel and into Milford Sound. We were welcomed by thousands on tiny sandflys. We quickly unpacked our belongings and headed indoors for the checkout counter. At 3:30, we headed for the boat and placed out things in our cabin. The cabin was actually very spacious with a queen sized bed and a decent sized bathroom. We headed to the deck to take some snapshots of the area. The skipper even took us up close and personal with Sterling Falls by taking the vessel only about 10 feet from it. At 7:00, dinner was served with a buffet style meal. We were expecting a much fancier meal from the reviews we had read online, but unfortunately it was like any typical buffet. At dinner, we sat with a young woman from England. Just like the other English and Irish people we have met, she was on a 6 month holiday to travel around the world. I think this is something that should be accepted in the American culture. Britt and I would definitely be on board. After dinner, we sat down and had some hot tea and cocoa and read a book about Milford Sound.
We woke up at 6:15. Luckily, everyone else on ship was still sleeping, so the whole outside of the ship was open to view the Sound. It was still very dark, so you could see very little, but the little bit of light produced by the ship was attracting small schools of fish, which attracts some other very cool animals. Several seals were outside of the boat coming up to the surface to eat the fish, which was very cool to see. The albatross were diving down at the fish, as well. We even had some dog fish sharks coming up to the surface to feed on the fish. It was all very impressive. At 7:30, breakfast was served, which was buffet style as well. We ate as much as we could, so we wouldn’t have to eat lunch. Breakfast was much better than the dinner in our opinion.
After breakfast, the ship made a trip out of the sound and into the Tasman Sea. We got some good views of the Milford Light house and made our way back into the sound. It was simply amazing to see this place. The Glaciers did an awesome job carving out the vertical walls and creating the deep valley for the ocean to flow into. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
Britt here. I think Ted summed up the last two days better than I could. Milford Sound was what I had expected and more. Breathtaking views, astonishing waterfalls, which leaves me speechless. We were thrilled to take the overnight cruise and were actually pretty lucky as ours was the last one for the season.
We had some free time this afternoon as we got back into Queenstown in mid-afternoon. We checked into our lodge and went and walked the downtown streets for a bit. Came back and finally did some laundry, made a fire in the community lounge area to warm ourselves up and write our blog and upload pictures. Now, we plan to head back downtown for dinner at Fergburger’s, a restaurant the young English woman we met on our cruise recommended.
Our food at the Fergberger was AWESOME! We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food tasted and how BIG the burgers were. We both got Southern Swine burgers with all the fixin’s and an order of fries to split. We took our food to go and stopped at the local grocery store for a bottle of pop. Britt was tempted to pay $5 for a freakin’ bottle of ketchup. Thank goodness she came to her senses and resisted the temptation. Neither of us were able to eat all of burgers. Luckily, there was a friendly stray cat to help us finish up. I named him Zorro and even tried to talk Britt into letting him sleep with us. It would have been just like being at home with Buddy nestled between us, but she wouldn’t go for it. At least Zorro got some Fergburger, so I am sure he will make it through the night.
Therefore, our time in New Zealand is almost over. It’s definitely a beautiful country we’d both like to visit again. We’re excited for warmer weather in Australia, hopefully shorts and beach attire!
Random notes:
When we stayed in Rotorua, we stopped for some dessert at a place that was serving gelatin ice cream. It was awesome! We found another store here in Queenstown and had some more today. Beats Dairy Queen and Cold Stone any day of the year!
I’m also surprised by the lack of convertibles in this country. We’ve seen less than a handful and with the weather they see during their summer months, I am quite surprised. We stopped at Queenstown yesterday, and pulled up next to a purple Prowler. A pretty sweet car if you ask me.
Off to Australia. Probably won’t hear from us for a few days.
Thanks for the note Mom. We miss you too. We’ll do our best on the baby makin’ thing, but no guarantees ;). I thought Cooper was going to be good enough to hold you over for at least a year.
Theresa, you know I’ve been bumping the Celine Dion all over New Zealand. I’ve got my whole Christmas Display choreographed in my head. It is going to be sweet.
Joyce and Roni, I'm up for fly fishing any time. I'm not sure anywhere in the US can match the size of fish they catch here in New Zealand (At our B&B in Rotorua, our host Sandy catches 13 pounds rainbows on a regular basis), but I'm sure Roni can tell me some good fish stories.
For those of my co-workers who are actually reading this…I forgot to mention that Friday when we did our glacier hike-I was sporting my pink shirt casual wear. You can see the pink shirt poking out from under my jacket…proof that I’ll wear it ANY FRIDAY. ALSO NOTE THE PINK IOWA STATE HAT!!!!!
Huge Kea on Top of Motorhome
Crusin' in Milford Sound
Sterling Falls
Milford Sound in the Morning
Bad Picture of Ted (Britt forced me to put it on here)
Snowcapped Mountains outside of Milford Sound
We stopped in Queenstown at the bakery for breakfast. Britt had an apple cinnamon roll and I had half a boysenberry stick (only half because Britt must eat half of all my food). Filled up for gas at a whopping $81, which is a lot for the size of car we are driving. A guy next to me was filling up his SUV and he was well over $100. Gas is currently $2.03/liter. The mountains in Queenstown are covered in snow and town is getting ready for the snow season. Queenstown reminds us of Dillon, Colorado with the hundreds of condos and resorts and the ski shops all over.
After grabbing breakfast, we continued our trek to Milford Sound. The drive was quite beautiful as we made our way into New Zealand’s Fjordland. We made a stop at a picnic area and a large Kea (looks like a large green parrot) swooped down on top of a motor home. The women sitting in the vehicle came running out wondering what the heck had just hit their vehicle. Kea’s must be very smart as he attempted several times with his beak to open the top hatch on the motorhome. Luckily, the owners had locked up the inside or they may have had a pet Kea with a razor sharp beak and claws.
We continued to make our way through Fjordland park and came up to Homer Tunnel. Homer Tunnel was made back in 1931 and took 4 years to make. The areas is susceptible to avalanches and three men perished while making the tunnel due to this (I guess is was due to the 200 km/hr winds that the avalanched produces that killed them, not the avalanche itself). We pushed on through the small tunnel and into Milford Sound. We were welcomed by thousands on tiny sandflys. We quickly unpacked our belongings and headed indoors for the checkout counter. At 3:30, we headed for the boat and placed out things in our cabin. The cabin was actually very spacious with a queen sized bed and a decent sized bathroom. We headed to the deck to take some snapshots of the area. The skipper even took us up close and personal with Sterling Falls by taking the vessel only about 10 feet from it. At 7:00, dinner was served with a buffet style meal. We were expecting a much fancier meal from the reviews we had read online, but unfortunately it was like any typical buffet. At dinner, we sat with a young woman from England. Just like the other English and Irish people we have met, she was on a 6 month holiday to travel around the world. I think this is something that should be accepted in the American culture. Britt and I would definitely be on board. After dinner, we sat down and had some hot tea and cocoa and read a book about Milford Sound.
We woke up at 6:15. Luckily, everyone else on ship was still sleeping, so the whole outside of the ship was open to view the Sound. It was still very dark, so you could see very little, but the little bit of light produced by the ship was attracting small schools of fish, which attracts some other very cool animals. Several seals were outside of the boat coming up to the surface to eat the fish, which was very cool to see. The albatross were diving down at the fish, as well. We even had some dog fish sharks coming up to the surface to feed on the fish. It was all very impressive. At 7:30, breakfast was served, which was buffet style as well. We ate as much as we could, so we wouldn’t have to eat lunch. Breakfast was much better than the dinner in our opinion.
After breakfast, the ship made a trip out of the sound and into the Tasman Sea. We got some good views of the Milford Light house and made our way back into the sound. It was simply amazing to see this place. The Glaciers did an awesome job carving out the vertical walls and creating the deep valley for the ocean to flow into. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
Britt here. I think Ted summed up the last two days better than I could. Milford Sound was what I had expected and more. Breathtaking views, astonishing waterfalls, which leaves me speechless. We were thrilled to take the overnight cruise and were actually pretty lucky as ours was the last one for the season.
We had some free time this afternoon as we got back into Queenstown in mid-afternoon. We checked into our lodge and went and walked the downtown streets for a bit. Came back and finally did some laundry, made a fire in the community lounge area to warm ourselves up and write our blog and upload pictures. Now, we plan to head back downtown for dinner at Fergburger’s, a restaurant the young English woman we met on our cruise recommended.
Our food at the Fergberger was AWESOME! We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food tasted and how BIG the burgers were. We both got Southern Swine burgers with all the fixin’s and an order of fries to split. We took our food to go and stopped at the local grocery store for a bottle of pop. Britt was tempted to pay $5 for a freakin’ bottle of ketchup. Thank goodness she came to her senses and resisted the temptation. Neither of us were able to eat all of burgers. Luckily, there was a friendly stray cat to help us finish up. I named him Zorro and even tried to talk Britt into letting him sleep with us. It would have been just like being at home with Buddy nestled between us, but she wouldn’t go for it. At least Zorro got some Fergburger, so I am sure he will make it through the night.
Therefore, our time in New Zealand is almost over. It’s definitely a beautiful country we’d both like to visit again. We’re excited for warmer weather in Australia, hopefully shorts and beach attire!
Random notes:
When we stayed in Rotorua, we stopped for some dessert at a place that was serving gelatin ice cream. It was awesome! We found another store here in Queenstown and had some more today. Beats Dairy Queen and Cold Stone any day of the year!
I’m also surprised by the lack of convertibles in this country. We’ve seen less than a handful and with the weather they see during their summer months, I am quite surprised. We stopped at Queenstown yesterday, and pulled up next to a purple Prowler. A pretty sweet car if you ask me.
Off to Australia. Probably won’t hear from us for a few days.
Thanks for the note Mom. We miss you too. We’ll do our best on the baby makin’ thing, but no guarantees ;). I thought Cooper was going to be good enough to hold you over for at least a year.
Theresa, you know I’ve been bumping the Celine Dion all over New Zealand. I’ve got my whole Christmas Display choreographed in my head. It is going to be sweet.
Joyce and Roni, I'm up for fly fishing any time. I'm not sure anywhere in the US can match the size of fish they catch here in New Zealand (At our B&B in Rotorua, our host Sandy catches 13 pounds rainbows on a regular basis), but I'm sure Roni can tell me some good fish stories.
For those of my co-workers who are actually reading this…I forgot to mention that Friday when we did our glacier hike-I was sporting my pink shirt casual wear. You can see the pink shirt poking out from under my jacket…proof that I’ll wear it ANY FRIDAY. ALSO NOTE THE PINK IOWA STATE HAT!!!!!
Huge Kea on Top of Motorhome
Crusin' in Milford Sound
Sterling Falls
Milford Sound in the Morning
Bad Picture of Ted (Britt forced me to put it on here)
Snowcapped Mountains outside of Milford Sound
Friday, May 30, 2008
May 30-Glacier Hike
Happy Friday!
Finally made it to our rest stop about 8:30 tonight. This is the second night in a row we are staying at a Top 10 Holiday Park. Holiday Parks are in most cities and is a mix of campground units and cabins. Last night we had a bathroom in our own unit, tonight we have to share. Looks as though we are the only one in the unit of five or six cabins because they told Ted to go ahead and use the women’s showers since the men’s isn’t working
This morning we were up early and on the road. Ate cookies for breakfast along the way. We are on our second 24-pack of “Anzac Chocalate Cookies”. Taste a lot like oatmeal cookies with chocolate drizzle on top. Can’t say it’s been the healthiest breakfast, but that’s all we had.
We had a five hour drive from Christchurch down to Fox Glacier for our half day glacier hike. More curvy roads and driving through mountains. Nothing too exciting so I took an hour nap along the way. You wouldn’t believe the number of bridges we had to pass. With that, over 90% of them are one lane bridges. My guess is one lane because they didn’t/wouldn’t need to spend the money to make them two lane with the minimal traffic flow. Either way, lots of one lane narrow bridges, probably hit 50 or more.
We spent our afternoon taking a half day glacier hike across Fox Glacier. Pictures are pretty amazing. Fox Glacier is only one of two of the nearly 3200 glaciers in New Zealand which is actually growing. This glacier is able to grow because of the amount of rainfall it sees each year. Over 200 days a year with approximately 150 inches of rain. This in turn leads to the glacier moving up to 3 feet per day! Luckily, we had a rain free beautiful day! It’s also one of only three glaciers in the world that are in a rain forest.
Met another crew from Ireland today on our hike. Three young lads, likely my age, who were on “Holiday”. When I say Holiday, I guess you could re-phrase that to extended vacation! They were on their fifth month of eight for their around-the-world trip. Unreal…I’m guessing that many Europeans work for a few years after they finish at University to save money to travel abroad for awhile. Seems quite apparent just by the few people we’ve talked to. How sweet would that be!!!
After we finished up there about 5:30, we drove for another three hours to hit our Holiday Park for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll be heading over to Milford Sound for an overnight excursion. It’ll take about five hours to get there. To date, we’ve put on over 800 miles on the two cars we’ve rented. Yikes!
Random Notes:
The other day we had pulled off to take a few photos of the mountains. Trucking along, we noticed a John Deere tractor with a front end loader. Cruising along in the loader, sat a yellow lab, happy as could be. Was hoping we’d be able to catch up and snatch a picture as we passed, but he turned off.
Beginning of the New Zealand Alps
Ice picking our way up the Fox Glacier
CHillin' on the Glacier
Fox Glacier Valley
Finally made it to our rest stop about 8:30 tonight. This is the second night in a row we are staying at a Top 10 Holiday Park. Holiday Parks are in most cities and is a mix of campground units and cabins. Last night we had a bathroom in our own unit, tonight we have to share. Looks as though we are the only one in the unit of five or six cabins because they told Ted to go ahead and use the women’s showers since the men’s isn’t working
This morning we were up early and on the road. Ate cookies for breakfast along the way. We are on our second 24-pack of “Anzac Chocalate Cookies”. Taste a lot like oatmeal cookies with chocolate drizzle on top. Can’t say it’s been the healthiest breakfast, but that’s all we had.
We had a five hour drive from Christchurch down to Fox Glacier for our half day glacier hike. More curvy roads and driving through mountains. Nothing too exciting so I took an hour nap along the way. You wouldn’t believe the number of bridges we had to pass. With that, over 90% of them are one lane bridges. My guess is one lane because they didn’t/wouldn’t need to spend the money to make them two lane with the minimal traffic flow. Either way, lots of one lane narrow bridges, probably hit 50 or more.
We spent our afternoon taking a half day glacier hike across Fox Glacier. Pictures are pretty amazing. Fox Glacier is only one of two of the nearly 3200 glaciers in New Zealand which is actually growing. This glacier is able to grow because of the amount of rainfall it sees each year. Over 200 days a year with approximately 150 inches of rain. This in turn leads to the glacier moving up to 3 feet per day! Luckily, we had a rain free beautiful day! It’s also one of only three glaciers in the world that are in a rain forest.
Met another crew from Ireland today on our hike. Three young lads, likely my age, who were on “Holiday”. When I say Holiday, I guess you could re-phrase that to extended vacation! They were on their fifth month of eight for their around-the-world trip. Unreal…I’m guessing that many Europeans work for a few years after they finish at University to save money to travel abroad for awhile. Seems quite apparent just by the few people we’ve talked to. How sweet would that be!!!
After we finished up there about 5:30, we drove for another three hours to hit our Holiday Park for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll be heading over to Milford Sound for an overnight excursion. It’ll take about five hours to get there. To date, we’ve put on over 800 miles on the two cars we’ve rented. Yikes!
Random Notes:
The other day we had pulled off to take a few photos of the mountains. Trucking along, we noticed a John Deere tractor with a front end loader. Cruising along in the loader, sat a yellow lab, happy as could be. Was hoping we’d be able to catch up and snatch a picture as we passed, but he turned off.
Beginning of the New Zealand Alps
Ice picking our way up the Fox Glacier
CHillin' on the Glacier
Fox Glacier Valley
May 29-Caving Adventure
Another day down. Just sitting at the Hamilton Airport writing our blog before we leave here for Christchurch in an hour.
Stayed at another B&B last night. A neat place in which we had our own cabin. It was a cute set-up with a small loft with two bunk beds for children (yes, Ted and I even climbed the ladder to check them out) and a king size bed and kitchen. One of the reasons I loved the place was because the rooms were decorated in what some of you may call teal. Yes, the room was a teal color with teal sheets. LOVED IT! Our host, Angus, provided “torches” (head lamps as we would call them) for us to view some glow worms on their property. A short hike from our cabin and we arrived at a small rock wall covered in bright green glowing worms. It really appears like you are looking in the sky at stars. Basically, a glow worm is what the name states... A worm that glows in the dark. The worms glow to attract insects to them.
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise which Ted captured with some photographs.
This morning we had booked a caving tour with the Black Water Rafting Company. We were booked for the 5 hour Abyss Tour which involves rappelling down a very narrow entry into the cave. From there we ziplined to another rock, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and plunged (Ted did, I didn’t) into the river on innertubes. The next few hours were spent exploring the caves on our tubes and by foot and viewing the beautiful rock formations in the cave, along with all the glow worms. I fared well, considering we were in the water most of the trip….don’t worry Mom. A wonderful experience, had a blast, and will likely be one of the highlights of our trip.
Ted’s Rendition
Our journey began with 40 degree weather and sliding into wetsuits that had been kept in the cold overnight. We were very cold for quite awhile until our bodies were able to warm up the suits. We traveled to the caves via van and immediately went into abseiling (known to us as rappelling) trainings. We all the got the hand of it quickly, so next up was the real thing. Britt elected to go first and I didn’t argue, so I let her test things out. After 20 feet, she was gone into the darkness. I was next and off I went into the Abyss. About 20 feet down, you have to sqeeze through about a 3-4 foot opening. Very tight and hard to maneuver. After squeezing through, I landed on a platform to a smiling Britt. After the rest of the party rappelled down, we went onto the next portion of the adventure…ziplining. Britt went again of course to test things out. We ziplined to a rock platform and had some coffee and cookies.
Next was one of the funnest portions of the adventure…jumping into the underground cave river. This entailed sticking your tube to your butt and jumping off a 15 foot cliff into the river. Britt chickened out and decided to crawl down the side.
Once everyone was in the water we tried running in the water to warm up a bit and were able to walk down part of the cave due to the low water level. After some walking we all hopped on our tubes and connected and made a large tube train by hooking onto each others legs. We turned off our torches and looked to the ceiling to see thousands of green glow worms. We proceeded to float down the river with our guide giving us the history of the cave. We then got rid of our tubes and walked through more water. We came to a waterfall and slid down a slide on our bellies. Even Britt followed to my surprise. Continued to walk through the cave where we came to a deep spot where we had to swim. Due to the buoyancy of the wetsuits, I was able to pull Britt along behind me without her drowning. Onward we went, trekking through the caves until we came to the end where you could choose whether you wanted to take the easy or hard way out. I took the hard way, Britt opted for the easy way out. The hard way involved shimming through a 3-4 foot opening under a waterfall, then crawling up along slide the wall and over two different waterfalls and crawling through a very narrow cave opening back into daylight. I was very proud of Britt that she made it through this adventure knowing her fear of water. Most of the time she looked wide-eyed and scared, but didn’t complain. Overall, she enjoyed the adventure and I couldn’t be more proud.
The nice thing about the excursion, there were five of us on the tour with four guides, so we were able to learn quite a bit about the area. In talking with the other three, one man, Matt, came from the UK. He was on an around-the-world trip with his recently retired father. I expected him to tell us they’d be on vacation for just a week or two. Nah, they were on the eight month of their year long excursion. They’d been to Australia, now New Zealand, and will finish in South America. Quite the guy and neat to hear about his travels.
Random notes:
Locals must not eat out very often. The two times we’ve ate out for dinner, it was only us and one or two other tables eating dinner at 6:00. Could be that eating out is quite costly, or maybe they enjoy eating at home instead.
Does anyone know who Bill Brysen (sp?) is? Our tour guide on our rafting trip asked after we told her we were from Iowa. Ted and I looked at each other and said, we have no idea who Bill Brysen is. She proceeded to say that maybe she had the wrong state. Then we introduce ourselves to Matt and he asks the same question. Apparently he is a well-known travel writer. Dean/Marge, have you heard of him before?
Megan and Brent - give our favorite niece and nephew a big hug for us! Glad to hear everyone is still doing well after the bad weather.
Cool Picture of Flower that I (Ted) took
Sunrise at our Bed and Breakfast
Britt rappeling into the Black Abyss
Ted with a tube stuck to his butt and falling into the river
I'm a spider
Stayed at another B&B last night. A neat place in which we had our own cabin. It was a cute set-up with a small loft with two bunk beds for children (yes, Ted and I even climbed the ladder to check them out) and a king size bed and kitchen. One of the reasons I loved the place was because the rooms were decorated in what some of you may call teal. Yes, the room was a teal color with teal sheets. LOVED IT! Our host, Angus, provided “torches” (head lamps as we would call them) for us to view some glow worms on their property. A short hike from our cabin and we arrived at a small rock wall covered in bright green glowing worms. It really appears like you are looking in the sky at stars. Basically, a glow worm is what the name states... A worm that glows in the dark. The worms glow to attract insects to them.
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise which Ted captured with some photographs.
This morning we had booked a caving tour with the Black Water Rafting Company. We were booked for the 5 hour Abyss Tour which involves rappelling down a very narrow entry into the cave. From there we ziplined to another rock, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and plunged (Ted did, I didn’t) into the river on innertubes. The next few hours were spent exploring the caves on our tubes and by foot and viewing the beautiful rock formations in the cave, along with all the glow worms. I fared well, considering we were in the water most of the trip….don’t worry Mom. A wonderful experience, had a blast, and will likely be one of the highlights of our trip.
Ted’s Rendition
Our journey began with 40 degree weather and sliding into wetsuits that had been kept in the cold overnight. We were very cold for quite awhile until our bodies were able to warm up the suits. We traveled to the caves via van and immediately went into abseiling (known to us as rappelling) trainings. We all the got the hand of it quickly, so next up was the real thing. Britt elected to go first and I didn’t argue, so I let her test things out. After 20 feet, she was gone into the darkness. I was next and off I went into the Abyss. About 20 feet down, you have to sqeeze through about a 3-4 foot opening. Very tight and hard to maneuver. After squeezing through, I landed on a platform to a smiling Britt. After the rest of the party rappelled down, we went onto the next portion of the adventure…ziplining. Britt went again of course to test things out. We ziplined to a rock platform and had some coffee and cookies.
Next was one of the funnest portions of the adventure…jumping into the underground cave river. This entailed sticking your tube to your butt and jumping off a 15 foot cliff into the river. Britt chickened out and decided to crawl down the side.
Once everyone was in the water we tried running in the water to warm up a bit and were able to walk down part of the cave due to the low water level. After some walking we all hopped on our tubes and connected and made a large tube train by hooking onto each others legs. We turned off our torches and looked to the ceiling to see thousands of green glow worms. We proceeded to float down the river with our guide giving us the history of the cave. We then got rid of our tubes and walked through more water. We came to a waterfall and slid down a slide on our bellies. Even Britt followed to my surprise. Continued to walk through the cave where we came to a deep spot where we had to swim. Due to the buoyancy of the wetsuits, I was able to pull Britt along behind me without her drowning. Onward we went, trekking through the caves until we came to the end where you could choose whether you wanted to take the easy or hard way out. I took the hard way, Britt opted for the easy way out. The hard way involved shimming through a 3-4 foot opening under a waterfall, then crawling up along slide the wall and over two different waterfalls and crawling through a very narrow cave opening back into daylight. I was very proud of Britt that she made it through this adventure knowing her fear of water. Most of the time she looked wide-eyed and scared, but didn’t complain. Overall, she enjoyed the adventure and I couldn’t be more proud.
The nice thing about the excursion, there were five of us on the tour with four guides, so we were able to learn quite a bit about the area. In talking with the other three, one man, Matt, came from the UK. He was on an around-the-world trip with his recently retired father. I expected him to tell us they’d be on vacation for just a week or two. Nah, they were on the eight month of their year long excursion. They’d been to Australia, now New Zealand, and will finish in South America. Quite the guy and neat to hear about his travels.
Random notes:
Locals must not eat out very often. The two times we’ve ate out for dinner, it was only us and one or two other tables eating dinner at 6:00. Could be that eating out is quite costly, or maybe they enjoy eating at home instead.
Does anyone know who Bill Brysen (sp?) is? Our tour guide on our rafting trip asked after we told her we were from Iowa. Ted and I looked at each other and said, we have no idea who Bill Brysen is. She proceeded to say that maybe she had the wrong state. Then we introduce ourselves to Matt and he asks the same question. Apparently he is a well-known travel writer. Dean/Marge, have you heard of him before?
Megan and Brent - give our favorite niece and nephew a big hug for us! Glad to hear everyone is still doing well after the bad weather.
Cool Picture of Flower that I (Ted) took
Sunrise at our Bed and Breakfast
Britt rappeling into the Black Abyss
Ted with a tube stuck to his butt and falling into the river
I'm a spider
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
May 28th - Ted lands a BIG ONE
Today. I should let Ted tell you about today….
If you don’t already know, New Zealand is considered to have the world’s best fly fishing. The area around Taupo, where we stayed last night, is considered the best area to go. Yesterday I contemplated whether or not to take the dive and spend the cash on a fly fishing guide. The Taupo area is very touristy, so the cost is very high and pretty shocking. I was about to go on without taking the chance to fish is this great area, but my GREAT wife talked me into spending the money for a guide. We signed up for a half-day at one of the local fly fishing shops. We left this morning at 7:30 with our guide Leon. He was a fairly young guy that was in love the outdoors and very enthusiastic about fly fishing. He took us to a river called Waitakoto river. For the first hour, he spent some time with Britt and I showing us how to cast and fish the river and for New Zealand trout. After getting the hang of things, we trekked back to area of the river that had several large pools where the fish like to hide. Leon hiked up the side of the cliff to see if he could see any fish. Luckily, he sighted a couple in one of the pools. He told me where to place my fly and be ready for the fish to strike. After the first cast, WHAM! The fish went running downstream and flopping in the water. It was amazing the power the fish had. Several mintues later, Leon was able to net the fish. Below you can see a picture of the 18”, 4 lb rainbow trout that I landed. A beautiful fish.
Leon showing me how to hold the fish (I really did catch this fish!!!)
Me holding the fish (Britt picture taking skills needs some work - The picture just doesn't give it justice)
Unfortunately, Britt did not have the same luck (or skill as I would call it) as I did. Better luck next time. I will still give her half the credit for the fish as she talked me into going. THANKS!!!!
Random notes:
From our first night stay at a B&B, we found it interesting how much New Zealander’s know about our current events. We carried on a lengthy conversation about politics, mainly Hillary and Obama. What was even more surprising was the fact that last night after we posted our blog, we had the local news on. They had a quick clip on tornado’s in the Midwest, even mentioning Northeast Iowa and showed video of a tornado in Hugo Minnesota. Who knew we would hear about Iowa halfway around the world.
There are approximately 38 million sheep in New Zealand and 6 million cows. Ted and I believe we’ve seen all but a few thousand of the 6 million cows…..
Theresa…you were right. Day 4 and Ted and I have talked about everything we could think of. Car rides, if I’m awake, are turning into memorizing Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts (although I have the last two memorized) songs.
Good news. Ate a quick lunch at McDonald’s today and they have regular “tomato sauce”. I should’ve asked for a sack full. Maybe it was just the restaurant we ate at? Time will tell. When I ordered our meal, Ted told me that locals will put beets on hamburgers. Not knowing if they did at McDonald’s, I asked the cashier for two cheeseburgers w/out beets and onion. What we got was a hamburgerless sandwich. She must’ve thought I said without beef…
I think Ted is starting to believe he’s now a race car driver. You should see the smile on his face as he speeds (you didn’t read that word Mom) around the curves. Feels like we’re driving in the Rocky Mountains constantly!
We're now in Waitomo Caves. Tomorrow, we will get to partake in the Waitomo Caves adventure. It should be interesting. We'll update tomorrow, if we get a chance.
A few more pictures of New Zealand
If you don’t already know, New Zealand is considered to have the world’s best fly fishing. The area around Taupo, where we stayed last night, is considered the best area to go. Yesterday I contemplated whether or not to take the dive and spend the cash on a fly fishing guide. The Taupo area is very touristy, so the cost is very high and pretty shocking. I was about to go on without taking the chance to fish is this great area, but my GREAT wife talked me into spending the money for a guide. We signed up for a half-day at one of the local fly fishing shops. We left this morning at 7:30 with our guide Leon. He was a fairly young guy that was in love the outdoors and very enthusiastic about fly fishing. He took us to a river called Waitakoto river. For the first hour, he spent some time with Britt and I showing us how to cast and fish the river and for New Zealand trout. After getting the hang of things, we trekked back to area of the river that had several large pools where the fish like to hide. Leon hiked up the side of the cliff to see if he could see any fish. Luckily, he sighted a couple in one of the pools. He told me where to place my fly and be ready for the fish to strike. After the first cast, WHAM! The fish went running downstream and flopping in the water. It was amazing the power the fish had. Several mintues later, Leon was able to net the fish. Below you can see a picture of the 18”, 4 lb rainbow trout that I landed. A beautiful fish.
Leon showing me how to hold the fish (I really did catch this fish!!!)
Me holding the fish (Britt picture taking skills needs some work - The picture just doesn't give it justice)Unfortunately, Britt did not have the same luck (or skill as I would call it) as I did. Better luck next time. I will still give her half the credit for the fish as she talked me into going. THANKS!!!!
Random notes:
From our first night stay at a B&B, we found it interesting how much New Zealander’s know about our current events. We carried on a lengthy conversation about politics, mainly Hillary and Obama. What was even more surprising was the fact that last night after we posted our blog, we had the local news on. They had a quick clip on tornado’s in the Midwest, even mentioning Northeast Iowa and showed video of a tornado in Hugo Minnesota. Who knew we would hear about Iowa halfway around the world.
There are approximately 38 million sheep in New Zealand and 6 million cows. Ted and I believe we’ve seen all but a few thousand of the 6 million cows…..
Theresa…you were right. Day 4 and Ted and I have talked about everything we could think of. Car rides, if I’m awake, are turning into memorizing Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts (although I have the last two memorized) songs.
Good news. Ate a quick lunch at McDonald’s today and they have regular “tomato sauce”. I should’ve asked for a sack full. Maybe it was just the restaurant we ate at? Time will tell. When I ordered our meal, Ted told me that locals will put beets on hamburgers. Not knowing if they did at McDonald’s, I asked the cashier for two cheeseburgers w/out beets and onion. What we got was a hamburgerless sandwich. She must’ve thought I said without beef…
I think Ted is starting to believe he’s now a race car driver. You should see the smile on his face as he speeds (you didn’t read that word Mom) around the curves. Feels like we’re driving in the Rocky Mountains constantly!
We're now in Waitomo Caves. Tomorrow, we will get to partake in the Waitomo Caves adventure. It should be interesting. We'll update tomorrow, if we get a chance.
A few more pictures of New Zealand
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
May 25th - May 27th
Please ignore my poor writing skills..
Well hello…Britt here…another day down and finally have the chance to use a computer and write a post. Lots of things to say…all will be pretty random and odd…
First off, talked to my Mom briefly yesterday when she was driving home from Marshalltown and she said there was severe weather around Iowa Falls. Spoke a few minutes again this morning and she said tornadoes hit in Parkersburg and New Hartford/Dike. I hope those who live nearby were unharmed and safe (Theresa, Ryan, Shirley/Dick, Jan/Marv).
The plane ride was great! Flew Air New Zealand and had more leg room then we’ve ever had before and chairs reclined far enough that both Ted and I slept almost 8 hours on the flight over. Also watched part of Michael Clayton (George Clooney movie) and Grease.
Day 1 we spent driving along the coast of Coromandel. There wasn’t anything separating our car and the ocean for 30 odd miles. Quite nerve racking with Ted behind the wheel and never more than 50 meters of straightaway. I managed to keep my calm and tell myself that Ted wouldn’t dare kill us on the first day of our vacation…
Partway through the day I wanted to stop in a small town and attempt to use the payphone to try and call our parents to inform Ted’s Mom she’d get Buddy for the night. The first two payphones we tried using our calling card pin number, but never managed to dial out. Our next option was to use our credit card and be charged a dollar amount. Wanting to get ahold of his Mom, I made Ted run back to the car and grab his wallet. Our third attempt at yet another payphone failed and we were on our way. We stopped 10 miles outside of town at an attraction and as we were walking through the lot Ted says, “Britt, I don’t have my wallet!” We quick looked around all the rubbage in the car and no wallet was to be found. We jumped in the car to speed back to town, the entire time arguing whose fault it was. Luckily, I found the wallet sitting in one of the booths. Not funny at the time, but funny now that we can look back.
FYI…if you like to travel, do not go anywhere without a GPS device. I would say it was the best present I have ever bought for Ted. For starters, it gets us to the places we need to be without getting lost. Two, saves on arguments as to which direction we need to be driving. Three, it allows me to fall asleep whenever possible since I am not required to navigate. And for those who know me, I can not stay awake in any vehicle! It’s as if someone secretly slips a sleeping pill in my pop. Maybe it’s actually Ted and he looks at it as peace and quiet time….
We’ve stayed at B&B’s the first two nights. Not only do you get a hearty breakfast, but we enjoy learning a lot from the hosts about their country. Ted spent all morning talking fly fishing with our hosts today. Sandy (our host) even took Ted to his favorite fishing spot to show him where he lost a 15 pounder yesterday. He even sent Ted away with two of his favorite flies!
Another interesting fact…hunting is allowed year round. One animal which is hunted is the wild pig. Apparently this is a sport in which hunting dogs chase the pig down the mountain near the hunter. At this point, one dog will take aim at one ear, another dog at the other ear, and sometimes a third dog at you know what if the pig is male. The hunter apparently stabs the pig under the gut. If you see men walking around town with a limp, easy guess is that he was stabbed in the leg by the pigs’ tusk. Doesn’t sound like a sport I’d be interested in….
Biggest disappointment: Ketchup isn’t called ketchup, it’s tomato sauce. And I tried some “tomato sauce” last night that didn’t taste anything like ketchup. I am quite concerned I will not find any Heinz ketchup in New Zealand and my meals will be subpar. Next time I better pack some in my suitcase…
Random notes:
An 18 pack of pop will cost you $15 NZD (New Zealand Dollars) which is approximately $11.50 in US dollars.
There are no pennies in their currency. If you spend $11.97, you’ll owe $12.00. That really kills two Engineers even if it is only 3 cents.
They run on 250V, so when you attempt to use your new hair dryer on 125, it’ll be shot. My bad.
Along one stretch of windy highway the following random signs were posted along various locations:
You’re going too fast…..crash
Nearest hospital…38 minutes
Surgery to save your life..9 hours
Spinal unit …….6 months
Grieving for your dead passenger…A lifetime
Enough said. Hope all is well with everyone back home. Grandma, hope you are feeling better. Ted and I are thinking of you often!
~Britt & Ted
Views from Coromandel Peninsula
Cathedral Cove
Waikato River
Huka Falls
Well hello…Britt here…another day down and finally have the chance to use a computer and write a post. Lots of things to say…all will be pretty random and odd…
First off, talked to my Mom briefly yesterday when she was driving home from Marshalltown and she said there was severe weather around Iowa Falls. Spoke a few minutes again this morning and she said tornadoes hit in Parkersburg and New Hartford/Dike. I hope those who live nearby were unharmed and safe (Theresa, Ryan, Shirley/Dick, Jan/Marv).
The plane ride was great! Flew Air New Zealand and had more leg room then we’ve ever had before and chairs reclined far enough that both Ted and I slept almost 8 hours on the flight over. Also watched part of Michael Clayton (George Clooney movie) and Grease.
Day 1 we spent driving along the coast of Coromandel. There wasn’t anything separating our car and the ocean for 30 odd miles. Quite nerve racking with Ted behind the wheel and never more than 50 meters of straightaway. I managed to keep my calm and tell myself that Ted wouldn’t dare kill us on the first day of our vacation…
Partway through the day I wanted to stop in a small town and attempt to use the payphone to try and call our parents to inform Ted’s Mom she’d get Buddy for the night. The first two payphones we tried using our calling card pin number, but never managed to dial out. Our next option was to use our credit card and be charged a dollar amount. Wanting to get ahold of his Mom, I made Ted run back to the car and grab his wallet. Our third attempt at yet another payphone failed and we were on our way. We stopped 10 miles outside of town at an attraction and as we were walking through the lot Ted says, “Britt, I don’t have my wallet!” We quick looked around all the rubbage in the car and no wallet was to be found. We jumped in the car to speed back to town, the entire time arguing whose fault it was. Luckily, I found the wallet sitting in one of the booths. Not funny at the time, but funny now that we can look back.
FYI…if you like to travel, do not go anywhere without a GPS device. I would say it was the best present I have ever bought for Ted. For starters, it gets us to the places we need to be without getting lost. Two, saves on arguments as to which direction we need to be driving. Three, it allows me to fall asleep whenever possible since I am not required to navigate. And for those who know me, I can not stay awake in any vehicle! It’s as if someone secretly slips a sleeping pill in my pop. Maybe it’s actually Ted and he looks at it as peace and quiet time….
We’ve stayed at B&B’s the first two nights. Not only do you get a hearty breakfast, but we enjoy learning a lot from the hosts about their country. Ted spent all morning talking fly fishing with our hosts today. Sandy (our host) even took Ted to his favorite fishing spot to show him where he lost a 15 pounder yesterday. He even sent Ted away with two of his favorite flies!
Another interesting fact…hunting is allowed year round. One animal which is hunted is the wild pig. Apparently this is a sport in which hunting dogs chase the pig down the mountain near the hunter. At this point, one dog will take aim at one ear, another dog at the other ear, and sometimes a third dog at you know what if the pig is male. The hunter apparently stabs the pig under the gut. If you see men walking around town with a limp, easy guess is that he was stabbed in the leg by the pigs’ tusk. Doesn’t sound like a sport I’d be interested in….
Biggest disappointment: Ketchup isn’t called ketchup, it’s tomato sauce. And I tried some “tomato sauce” last night that didn’t taste anything like ketchup. I am quite concerned I will not find any Heinz ketchup in New Zealand and my meals will be subpar. Next time I better pack some in my suitcase…
Random notes:
An 18 pack of pop will cost you $15 NZD (New Zealand Dollars) which is approximately $11.50 in US dollars.
There are no pennies in their currency. If you spend $11.97, you’ll owe $12.00. That really kills two Engineers even if it is only 3 cents.
They run on 250V, so when you attempt to use your new hair dryer on 125, it’ll be shot. My bad.
Along one stretch of windy highway the following random signs were posted along various locations:
You’re going too fast…..crash
Nearest hospital…38 minutes
Surgery to save your life..9 hours
Spinal unit …….6 months
Grieving for your dead passenger…A lifetime
Enough said. Hope all is well with everyone back home. Grandma, hope you are feeling better. Ted and I are thinking of you often!
~Britt & Ted
Views from Coromandel Peninsula
Cathedral Cove
Waikato River
Huka Falls
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Made it...
Made it to New Zealand just fine. 8:15 am local time on Sunday....17 hours ahead of Central (So, for those of you who have a difficult time counting that would mean it's 3:20 pm Saturday in Iowa:-)
Heading out to pick up our rental car and we'll be on our way. Let the journey begin....
Heading out to pick up our rental car and we'll be on our way. Let the journey begin....
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Britt and Ted's Big Trip
We will try to update this blog on a daily basis to give everyone details of where we are at and how our trip is going.
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