Mar 2007

We left the dry lands and headed for Fraser Island, which is the world's largest sand island. So yes, the whole island is sand. Some how, a rainforest was able to flourish which makes for a pretty dramatic setting.

That night we had an 'S' theme party. This meant you had to dress up, and whatever it was had to start with S (i.e. Superman, Sky, Superhero, etc).

(Dressed up as a Samurai)

(Siamese twins)

The next day everyone was feeling pretty sluggish after a long night, but we headed out on a 4-wheel drive tour. We drove around in these monster buses which were jacked up for off-roading. There are no paved road on the sand island, its all off-roading. We had a quick drive around to some of the highlights on the island.

(the roads... all sand)

(Stopping at pristine white sand beach in the middle of the island)

After the tour, the contiki crew met up for an awesome sunset.

Leaving the big tourist city of Surfer's Paradise behind, we headed for the hinterland to stay on a farm. When we arrived, it was so hot. This is one of the areas which has been hit by the drought. It was a complete wasteland. Nothing green at all

Despite being in the middle of nowhere, it was a good experience as the contiki group started to bond over cheap drinks, learning to play cricket, hay rides, and a good ol' fashion bush dance.

(Playing some cricket and haning out on the deck)

(Enjoying a sunset hay ride. Nick our contiki guide driving)

The next morning as we were waiting arouond to get on the bus, we had a visiter who wanted to join us.

(Kangaroo trying to get on the bus)

Another early morning as we headed to the Gold Coast. We stopped in Byron Bay, which is a big hippy town, and also the location of the most easterly point in OZ. Paul Hogan (aka. Crocodile Dundee) and Shania Twain both have houses here.

(Most easterly point)

Just before reaching Surfer's Paradise, we stopped at a zoo, to see all the famous Australian animals.

(Feeding some Kangaroos at the zoo)

(Another must see Australia animal... with a baby)

(A dingo... made famous by the "A dingo ate my baby")

(Found this guy walking around the zoo, not in a cage. Hope its not one of those deadly Australia reptiles)

That night we got the party started doing a small pub crawl around surfer's, including the local 'Minus 5' bar where you drink in a fridge (same deal as I did in New Zealand).

(Another cold bar experience. Something I do for free in a Canadain winter, yet you pay $20 to do on vacation)

ED'S 4-WHELL DRIVE TOUR
On my free day in Surfer's, I signed up for Ed's tour. The Day consisted of seeing a lot of wild life (pythons, lizards, kangeroos, etc), feasting on a huge steak and chicken buffet, lots of off-roading, hiking, and climbing the inside of a tree.

(Feeding the birds in the rainforest. These were wild birds that would land on you once you presented food)

(Saw a python in the wild)

(This is me climbing inside a tree. Its a process which takes a couple hundred years to occur, but the result is a hallow tree at a certain point. You could climb up about 40 feet. I was sketched out, and only climbed about 15 feet. Broken bones on vacation aren't fun)

(Picture taken from the outside of the tree, with me inside)

(Awesome mountains)

(That night we caught an awesome sunset as we drove back to Surfer's Paradise)

That night we did the Surfer's night life. When you're on a large tour and you roll up to the bar, they often provide a free round to everyone.

(A round of shots for the crew)

I had to wake up at 4:00am in Christchurch to catch my flight over to Australia. As per typical air travel, the flight was delayed 2 hours due to fog.

When I arrived in OZ, I met up with my friend Mitch who I had travelled with in New Zealand for two weeks.

That night we met up with all the people starting the Australian Contiki tour, and got the tour started a night early at the pub across from the hotel.

Day 1 of the tour started very early (7:00am), as we headed over to the Sydney Botanical garden to get the typical Sydney Opera House pictues. We spent most the day heading north towards the Gold Coast. I passed out at 9:00pm from only 8 hours of sleep over the 2 previous nights.

(The typical Sydney thing...)

For my last couple of days, I was able to meet up with long time friend Neil and his girlfriend Katherine.

Since I've seen the area we were covering together quite well, I was the tour guide for a couple of days. I took them to the usual places in Christchurch, and then we headed out of town for Lake Tepako. Of course we stopped at the world’s largest sweater in the world.

(Neil and Katherine in front of the gaint sweater)

After that we headed for Lake Tepako. This area is well known for clear, dark skies which make an ideal location for observatories (i.e. large telescopes used for looking at outer space). We did a couple of hikes around the area. The hikes were quite scenic because of the awesome sunset.

(Enjoying the view. Yes I am wearing a fleece with shorts. Its the cool style in New Zealand)

That night we were planning on camping out. We didn’t get to our campsite until dark. Upon arrival, it was really sketchy as there were tons of abandoned campervans. We elected to move on from the creepy situation, and head for Mt. Cook. On the final road into Mt. Cook, we came across a car in a ditch, but no one was there. Too much creepyness for one night. When we drove by it the next day, the car was already gone.

The next day we did another hike around Mt. Cook and got some amazing views of the mountains. It was then back to Queenstown! I was scheduled to go heli-biking that day, but there weren’t enough people signed up to go. Crap! Oh well, back on the bus to catch my plane out to Australia!

(Neil and I waking up with the mountains in the background)

(Looking good in front of the ice burgs floating down the river)

(Eating a roadside triple decker PB and J sandwich. I look kinda gross this photo from hiking and camping and no shower)

I only have a couple of days left in New Zealand, so with those days, I wanted to spend them climbing. I said goodbye to Lisa, Ryan, and the rest of our Stray Bus crew and headed for Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. (A sad moment saying goodbye)!

Unfortunately, the bus doesn’t go right to the Mt. Cook village, so I had to hitch in. No worries, I only had to wait 5 minutes!

When I arrived in the village, it was pouring rain. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn’t be able to hike. But I decided to give it a shot anyways (who knows when I'll be back at Mt. Cook!). I started with a flat walk in the Hooker Valley towards the base of Mt. Cook. Once I set out, the rain stopped, and the clouds parted for a few minutes, to give a good view of Mt. Cook. The end of the trail occured when I had to cross a glacier stream with no bridge. I felt the water and knew there was no way I could get across without getting hyperthermia!

(Large mountains with huge open valleys in the middle)

(Lots of suspension bridges crossing the glacier 'cold' rivers)

(Finally a good view of Mt. Cook)

MULLER HUT DAY HIKE
My main goal for heading to Mt. Cook was to do that Muller Hut hike. Normally, people do it in 2 days, but I thought I would giv’er in a day. This hike isn’t to be taken lightly as you head up into the high alpine, with little trails. This means there is some route finding with lots of scrambling.

I woke up early and headed for the park office to check the weather and see if the park staff thought it was an OK day. They gave it the thumbs up.

I headed out with all my warm clothes and anything rain proof. The start of the climb was straight forward, switch backing up the mountain until the scramble up a scree slope near the top. At the top of the screen slope, you reach a relatively flat ridge line which leads right to the hut.

(hhhmmm... where is the trail? Any why is there snow in the summer time?)

(About a 2/3rds of the way up)

(My hair looks crazy because the wind was blowning like crazy, giving the fro look)

The beginning of the climb was straight forwards with pure climbing and switchbacks. However, the higher I got, the heavier the wind became. Once on the final ridgeline to the top, the route is completely exposed (i.e. there's no coverage from wind or the elements). The winds hit like nothing I have ever seen before. I was actually getting blown over (picked up off my feet!). I had to hide behind rocks when the strong gussess started. I checked the weather report later that day, and they estimated the winds at 80km/h (plus or minus). The winds were so strong I couldn’t even hold my camera steady to take photos (my hand was getting blown around). My mp3 player earphones wouldn’t stay in my ears. Yes, I did get worried and think about turning around.

(the exposed ridgeline. Notice the glacier in the background)

There was a significant amount of snow too. I was jumping off rocks to avoid the large snow piles.

(waling through the snow)

Once I got into the Hut, I signed the guestbook to prove I made it, and enjoyed the view for a while.

(The hut with lots of snow around)

(I passed a guy on the way down, who took this photo of me, pretty close to the top. That's Mt. Cook in the background.)

(View near the top. I started a bit below the lake level)

So, for the day, I climbed over 1100 vertical meters (or just under 4000 vertical feet). The hut was at an altitude of 1810 meters. The day was suppose to take about 9 hours, but I dropped the hammer and it only took about 4.5 hours. Needless to say, I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. My legs were toast. However, I did enjoy a triple decker PB and J sandwich back at the hostel. That night I shared stories with some hikers from the Sweeden who had climbed in Nepal.

(The drive out from Mt. Cook)

We arrived in Queenstown getting ready for St. Patty’s. We headed to our favourite restaurant for the best beer battered fries in the world, along with a beer tower. That night we decided to take it easy so we would be ready for St. Patty’s. When I got back to the room, one of our roommates had picked me up hitchhiking a couple of days earlier… small country!

(Deja Vu of beer towers)

The next day Ryan and I headed to the Red Rocks for breakfast and a beer (only on St. Patty’s!). We watched the cricket world cup for a while. I’ve finally got a pretty good understanding of cricket, and it’s a solid game to watch.

(Beers, breakfast, and Cricket)

I also met up with Steph (who I worked with for a couple of summers), and we had a couple of beers to celebrate St. Patty’s.

(Steph and Ryan enjoying a beer on our hostel deck...yeah, thats the view from the deck!)

We started the night at the main hostel bar, and met up with a bunch of the Stray crew. The rest of the night involved a bunch of bar hopping, and watching the best bongo session I’ve ever heard (randomly on the street!)

(A bunch of the Stray crew... representing England, Hawaii, and Canada)

(Lisa and I drinking teapots at the World Bar. Those tea pots don't contain tea though)

(Bongos at the end of the night)

We headed down to Wanaka, which is dubbed as the little Queenstown. So I knew I was going to like it.

(Waterfront of Wanaka... awesome mountains in the background. Notice the snow on the mountain tops. Its starting to get cold at high altitudes)

We stopped at 'Puzzle World' on the way. It had a giant maze which takes about 1 hour to complete. The maze contains 1.5km worth of trails (the average person walks at least 3km to complete the maze). There was also the illusion room, where everything looks like its going up hill.

(Giant maze. This is about half of it)

(Illusion room... am I really standing like that?)

That night we all pitched in to have a giant Mexican meal along with margaritas. Only problem was no blender.

(Ryan improvising with unorthodox methods to get crushed ice... shoe and towel)

(see Mom, I can cook. Margarita in hand)

(Solid meal)

That night we went to a movie at the coolest movie theater in the world. It has couches to sit on, and even a car (we got to sit in the car!). There was a giant box of extra pillows to use. At the intermission, they had freshly baked cookies, and ice cream. You were also allowed to take meals or alcohol into the movie theater.

(Some of the Stray crew waiting to get into the movie)

(The tiny, but very comfortable movie theater)

(Chilling in the car)

The next day I went for a giant hike. The trailhead was a bit out of town, so I had to hitchhike out. I was picked up by the first car! The hike was a 12km round trip. It was a massive climb of about 1350 vertical meters (that’s about 4000 vertical feet or 6 times of Blue Mountain). I don’t think there was a single flat part the whole time. I really wanted to giv’er, so I dropped the hammer and did the climb in only 2 hours.

(Looking up a the peak. I had already climbed for a while when I took this photo)

(Awesome views with the sun rising)

(About 1/3 of the way up. Started at lake level)

(Cool ridge lines running all the way. I walked out onto that one)

At the top of the mountain, since it had rained the day before, it was all snow at the upper altitudes. I was walking through about 3 inches of snow (I was in my trail runners and shorts!). The top was insanely windy, but the views were worth it.

(Snow on the peak)

(the final path up through the snow)

(Picture from the peak. Remember I started at lake level)

(Me on the peak. Had to throw the fleece on since it was so cold.)

(Another peak picture)

That night I met up with a bunch of the Stray people, as everyone shared their adventures for the day.

(Mike from Germany after I told him the drinking he had was reserved for females in Canada)

Today was another awesome drive as we headed over the Hasst Pass. We did a bunch of day-walks along the way.

(Some kind of sick joke?)

(Crazy waterfall in the Hasst Pass)

When we arrived in Makarora, we quickly realized it wasn’t a town… just a couple of cottages and a bar. I decided to go for a run and ended up going with our bus driver and another traveler (who was a rugby player). We decide to run up a mountain, and as we got going, it turns out that our bus driver is into similar sports as me (endurance mountain biking/running/paddling). After about 5 minutes, the rugby player was dying as he tried to keep up with us. I had a good laugh, as he had been making fun of the fact I brought water on the run.

(The view from the 'town' of Makarora)

That night was Karaoke in the bar. No stories need to be told here.

(Our whole Stray bus singing)

A slow start to the morning after Barrytown meant the bus was pretty sluggish as we headed to Franz Josef.

(Funny sign if you're not a biker)

On the way down, we stopped at a little festival. For this competition, you payed 3 dollars, and if you reached the top of the ladder, you got $100. Needless to say, I was pretty confident I could make it. As my dad says, "A sucker is born every minute". Couldn't even get off the first rung. The guy running it made it look so easy.

For the most part, I took it pretty easy in Franz Josef, as I had already been through, and had done the glacier hike. I was planning on doing some more hiking, but all the rain kept me inside.

(Sign on the bar at the hostel)

(Did see a little sunshine on the 'wet' coast)

We left Able Tasman, and made a bunch of stops on the way down to Barrytown.

(Hilarious signs on the west coast drive)

(Lots of views)

(Me on the coastline)

The town of Barrytown is about 5 houses, and a hostel with a bar (it also goes by the names of 'Barry no town' or 'Laz Begas'). However, this is no normal bar. The bar has happy hour specials. But what makes it really unique is the boxes of costumes. After about an hour, they bring out these boxes of costumes, and everyone dresses up. There was a lot of insanity, including lots of cross dressing, dancing on the bar, dance contests, relay races, and a local wearing an elephant thong (the most disturbing thing I have ever seen). Needless to say, there was a significant amount of carnage, especially after the Jagarbombs went on special! We lived up to the sign on the bar door, which says "leave your dignity at the door...Go hard!" I'll let the pictures tell the stories... well, only a couple pictures

We headed up to Able Tasman, which is a national park on the northern coast. On the way we stopped in Picton, which is known for its wineries. We sampled a bunch of wines to make sure we took in the whole scene.

(Me looking like I actual appreciate it, and know what I'm doing)

We were staying at ‘Old McDonald’s Farm’ which is right on the edge of Able Tasman. They have a peacock running around, along with all kinds of other farm animals.

When we arrived at Old McDonald’s Farm, I randomly met up with Lisa, a friend from Queen’s who was on the floor below me in res. Such a small world!

That night was an open mic at the local café. As our bus driver told us, “this is when all the creatures come in from the mountains”. In other words, all the mountain men and hippies show up, play bongos, guitars, drink beers, etc. Needless to say it was a good night, and we met some pretty interesting locals. This place was cool, but didn’t compare to the Wilno Tavern up in the Ottawa Valley.

(bongos, hippies, dreads, locals and beers... just another night in Able Tasman)

The next day I went out on a huge catamaran to explore Able Tasman Park. It was a relaxing day. Saw some Seals, a penguin and somehow managed to only get a small burn on my leg, despite being in the sun all day.

(The boat)

(Me trying to stand up in split rock. Hope this picture is worth it, cause I cut my foot really bad on oyster rocks and had a hard time walking for 2 days afterwards)

(asking for a burn...so white. oh, and not flexing in this picture)

(beach where we stopped for lunch)

(Coastline)

With only 3 hours of sleep, we caught the 8:00am bus to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is known as one of the best dolphin swimming places in the world. Sometimes, over 200 dolphins have showed up to a boat of swimmers. Pretty insane.

It was nice drive down the coast. Once we rolled into town, we were sitting on the bus, looking out at the ocean, and we could see a pod of dolphins about 150 meters off the shore, jumping in and out of the water.

(Sweet drive...)

For the rest of the day, I took it pretty easy. Someone had the Lord of the Rings showing in the common room. It was cool to recognize a lot of the places used in the movie. The Rees/Dart Track where we tramped is used frequently. In some cases, I can actually recongize mountain ranges and peaks.

(Catching an awesome sunset on the east coast)

We drove from Rangitata to Christchurch. Since I had already spent so much time here, I deicded to only spend the one night. But that was more than enough time to get my favourite $6 chicken currie and hit up some 2 for 1 drinks which ended in a bit of carnage.

So we decided to jump on the 'Stray' bus, which is a bus line for backpackers. It takes you on a specific route to all the hot spots. You can get on and off the bus whenever you want. There is a bus doing each section of the route every day (so there's a lot of flexibility). It also means you meet lots of backpackers, and can travel with them as much or little as you want.

When we got on the bus, here was the first conversation:
- Stray bus driver: Do you guys wanna go to Rangitata?
- Me: What’s in Rangitata?
- Stray bus driver: um, there’s the best white water rafting in the country, where you run class 5 rapids.
- Me: (slight pause of amazement) yes… yes I do.

On the way to Rangitata, we drove by Mt. Cook (the highest peak in New Zealand, where Sir. Edmond Hilary trained for Everest). This was the third time I've driven by it, but the first time the cloud cover was gone so I could actually see it.

(Mt. Cook)

On the bus, we also met up with a bunch of people who had been on the Speight’s Brewery tour with us. It’s a small country.

That night, we stayed at an old sheep farm in the middle of nowhere. It was very relaxing, and a good detox after Queenstown. We played board games all night (Sorry Andy, no Cranium). I also got talking to a couple of the rafting guides, and they were pretty impressed with my knowledge of the pro kayaking scene and big rivers around the world (I guess I watch too many whitewater videos).

(giant game of Jenga)

(the old sheep farm. Awesome views and a sweet porch at the front)

(the river from the top)

The next day we went rafting. It was an epic day. The river was huge, with a class 5 rapid. The scenery was amazing. Our guide Chunk (named after Chunk from ‘The Goonies’) was hilarious. We laughed our way down the river all day.

(Chunk our river guide)

(The Stray crew about to hit up the river. Representing Canada, Ireland, England, Denmark, and New Zealand)

(Me in the front right [purple helmet], about to get a face full of water)

A lot of these rapids were full on.

(About to drop in...)

(pure carnage. Actually, we stylized this one after we a dropped over a huge rock. Most boats can't make that line)

The epic day finished with a BBQ back at the base camp.