Final Kiwi Stats

2 friends driving throughout New Zealand...

days in NZ = 21

kilometers traveled = 3,844

liters of gas consumed = 278

timtams eaten = 36

bottles of wine emptied = 14

flatwhites = 44

sheep waved to = all 33 million

road kill count = 106

number of hostels = 13

...potatoes consumed = 18

...mussels = 47

glaciers climbed = 1, and that's enough!

sandfly bites = 52

times we said "This must have been in the Lord of the Rings" = 68

...we reminded each other to drive on the left side of the road = 3 (but only one was a close call)

books read = 7

money spent on internet (Ludmila) = unknown....damn blog!

nights slept in car = 1 (Jenn....long story)

number of photos to bore family and friends with = 637

All Blacks jerseys purchased = 4

number of times we were mistaken for Americans = 9

...missing March in Toronto.....PRICELESS!

How I celebrated my birthday

My 28th birthday was celebrated in a bit of an unusual way. Last year, I went bowling with my friends, and got my butt kicked by Jenn and Sean. This year, I let one of the three advancing glaciers in the world humble me.

Meet Franz Josef....We took this picture en route to the face of the glacier, which was still 2 km away, eventhough it looks like it's 2 feet away.....indescribable!


Our guide Henry passed right by this, without a second look. This was the point where I started to wonder what Jenn got me into.....

....and also why she wouldn't let me read the disclaimer I signed minutes before.

The hike was an all-day affair, and although they called it a walk, it was a full-out climb. The physical portion is what i was most worried about. But the pounding of my heart wasn't just coming from the struggle of my lungs and muscles, rather from pure fear!

You will not be able to see pictures of the most frightening moments. Jenn and I were not concerned with photo-ops at these points. All you will see are happy still shots, when we're upright, with two feet on the ground. The rest of it, will remain in my memory, so I never agree to do this again.

Yes, it was the coolest way to spend my birthday and the hardest thing I've done on this trip so far. But really, all I could think about was each step ahead of me. I was truly in the present, as I've never been before.

Note: spending two months on beaches in Australia is not good training for New Zealand.

A small crevasse....they got so much bigger than this. The largest we had to hurdle across was about 3 feet, adn you couldn't see the bottom. I was in disbelief that they were asking me to do this. I had to propel my body forward and hope to God I made it to the other side.

Some of the ice....

Our guide got us lost for about an hour amidst the ice. Seriously! But what were we to do? He was the one with the axe!

Smooth sailing....

...getting a little steeper

This picture is not upright. He is our guide, adn he is actually carving steps up for us so we could pull ourselves up on the rope. Turn this picture 90 degrees and you'll have a small idea of what we were being asked to do.

This is Jenn at our highest point in the glacier. We froze our bums off having lunch here....but we were thankful to be in one piece. Next problem: coming down!

Almost half way down, on a break. I was so scared here. The way down was quite steep, and muscle control was at a minimum. For the physios out there, Jenn and I apparently have more knee hyperextension than we thought! Lock 'hem up!

This is an ice cave. No, we didn't fit through this. Would have been nice though to get out of there in a nice little tunnel.

Lastly, I have to thank my friend Jenn. Without her, I would never have done this. She has pushed me to do things out of my comfort zone throughout this trip, and it has both humbled me and surprised me at every turn. You rock Jenny P., even if you got a little, ok a lot, scared yourself!

Hiking and Kayaking the Abel Tasman

Welcome to the Abel Tasman.....the best two days on our trip so far....

We spent two days hiking and kayaking our way through the Abel Tasman, a national Park in the south island of New Zealand. The weather was perfect, and the views were magnificent.

We took a water taxi to Anchorage Bay and then hiked our way back to Marahau.

These rocks were HUGE! I wish the picture was able to portray how grand this was....

A coastal view...

All I could think of was, "Pinch me! Am I really here?"

This is the view from the hike.....there were many beaches along the way. The next day when we were kayaking these beaches weren't there anymore. Why? The tide rises and falls 4.5 metres a day here in New Zealand, more than anywhere else in the world. It was incredible to see the difference between morning and afternoon in the coastline.

Yes, the scenery was this stunning ALL of the time.

There was a part of the hike that was mostly uphill, so I was glad to stop every few minutes for these picture opportunities....

A little out of breath but still smiling....this was taken by another hiker we found along the way.

Amidst the rocks towards the very end of our hike

And now for the kayaking......truly, one of my favourite days in my entire adventure. We kayaked for about 4 or 5 hours in total, and although I couldn't raise my arms at the end of the day, it was so much fun!

My favourite part was a stretch between the coast and an island that we encircled. It took about an hour to do it and all I could hear were the sounds of my paddle in the water, and I could feel the sunshine on my arms......

Another of our sexy outfits!

Can you pick out the seals sun bathing?

Wine, food and sunshine.....

Oh, the good life....

On our second day on the south island we did, what else? A WINE TOUR of the Marlborough region. Priorities, priorities....

This is the largest wine producing region in New Zealand, and arguably produces the very best Savignton Blanc in the world. We joined a local tour and visited 10, yes 10, wineries in one afternoon! Our palates were so confused by the end, not to mention our sense of direction!Don't worry mom, we weren't driving that day.

Our favourite bottle was found at a winery called Bladen. KaHung, like what I found in Australia and you in Argentina, it seems that Canada does not get much of the best of NZ - it has to do with the taxation of the wine, as before. When we get home, we'll give you our compelte list of the good, the better, and the best!

So many wineries, so little time

Now, I MUST mention the seafood we've been enjoying here. The town we stayed in is famous for their mussels. In fact, the day we arrived was the annual Mussel Festival. Truly, it's as good as it looks!

This is a local mussel restaurant in Havelock. Take a look at what's on the roof!

Ooohh baby!

The Queen Charlotte Drive

From the moment we crossed to the south island, we fell in love with it. Amber, you were totally right about the south island. Nothing we have seen in the north compares to the picturesque scenery that is overwhelming our senses here.


There is a very tortuous road between Picton and Havelock, named the Queen Charlotte Scenic Drive. Even in terribly cloudy and dark weather, the drive lived up to its name.

This is the ferry that brought us and Frank (that's the name of our car) to the south island of NZ.

The town of Picton in the background.

At the start of the drive the weather still looked all right....

But the clouds started to come in the further we got. Peter Jackson got it right when he decided to film the LOR trilogy here.....Ominous!

"Jenn, do you think it's gonna rain?"

North Island Adventures

.....aka flying by the seat of our pants....

Jenn and I met up in Auckland, New Zealand, almost a week ago. We had plans stemming from the summer of 2006, when we first started to plan this adventure. We have 2 Lonely Planets, a Rough Guide, and a typed (yes, typed) itinerary of our travels in our possession. Yet, we are humbled at every turn, having to modify/delete/create our plans as we go along. Apparently, in all the planning that we did we forgot to learn how to control the weather.

Let me tell you about our North Island adventures so far.....

We were a bit disappointed with Auckland. It's small, quite industrial, and everything closes very early. So instead of hanging out in the hostel, we hit the road and drove to the west coast.

This is Waitakere Ranges, west of Auckland. It was a very windy drive to get there, but once we arrived, we had a picnic lunch all by ourselves in what seemed like the most remote place in the world. This is when it dawned on me that I was in New Zealand, about as far from home as I have ever been.

Still in the Waitakere Ranges, this is KareKare beach. We hiked to this spot where we found the blackest sand I've ever seen. The picture certainly doesn't show the darkness of the sand.....

Jenn climbing one of these magnificent trees in KareKare forest.

While we were exploring Waitakere, a local pulled over her car and told us to walk up the road, go around the bend, and take a 10 minute walk down the hill......that's where we found this hidden waterfall.

This was taken on the road as we made our way to Piha, also west of Auckland.

Piha beach - a favourite with local surfers

The next day, we started the drive to the northeast region of the north island, looking for the hot water beaches we had heard so much about. You get to dig a hole in the sand during low tide, and then enjoy a natural hot spring spa when the tide comes in. Unfortunately, the beach was closed. The currents have gotten so strong that someone drowned and it's just not safe to dig at this time. Grrrr! So this is when we went to Waitomo instead (check out my Black Water rafting entry from before).

This picture is dedicated to my friend KaHung, who commented in my last blog entry about how sexy Jenn and I look in our wet suits......how d'you like them apples?

Next in our plans was the Tongariro Crossing, arguably the world's most beautiful one day hike. This is the place that is described as "Mordor" in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (just to give you an idea of how magnificent this place really is). We drove to Taupo, a nearby town, and upon checking into our hostel, we got the bad news: the Tongariro Crossing is closed until further notice due to weather conditions. We couldn't believe it. We stayed in Taupo for two days waiting for the mountain officials to let us through. No such luck.

This is a view of Tongariro National Park from the motorway. Note the clouds, snow, and apparently hail that prevented us from doing the hike.

Instead, we busied ourselves with side excursions. Take a look at the pictures below. They were taken at a place called Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area full of mud pools and steam vents. We took the 45-minute hike around the craters and were marvelled at the noise they made and the heat they gave off.

Two small craters...

One huge crater!!!! I'm the little yellow dot in the right upper corner......the weather was so crazy! We were in winter jacquets in a geothermal area!

So what do you do when the signs say: "Danger! Keep to path"?

You go to the Hot Springs Spa!!!!

A nice warm dip as the weather blew up outside...

One of the most rewarding parts of our trip thus far, has been the scenery during our drives. You can't really pull over very often to take pictures, but whenever it's safe to do so, we get out of the car and grab our cameras.

This is Waipunga Falls in the distance. Just one of the incredibly beautiful sights we've been enjoying on our drives.

Jenn trying to make some new friends.....

Another little detour: wineries!!!!!

Hawke's bay - this is the second biggest wine region in New Zealand.

Just a little tasting.....for you, Amber, of course!

Two 'happy' girls at a winery in Hawke's bay

Wish I could bring the whole thing home!

We are now in Wellington, patiently awaiting the moment when we embark on the ferry for the South island. Here's wishing the weather gods will be on our side!!!!