Glacier trekking

Our big adventure on the glacier. It started out with a shuttle picking us up from our campsite and taking us to their headquarters where they outfitted Heather and I with all the appropriate ice climbing gear. We had large ice boots and woolen socks. Wool mittens and optional snow jackets and pants. Along with crampons or ice spikes for our boots.

Everyone on our trek then boarded a large bus that drove us to the carpark (parking lot in American) at the base of the glacier. Actually we were still quite a ways away from the glacier and had to hike for about an hour with all our gear including lunch, water, extra layers of clothing, ice spikes for our boots etc. And this was no ordinary walk. We had to scramble over boulders, cross streams and climb up and down 4 aluminum ladders. One of the ladders was directly under a small waterfall. Needless to say by the time we got to the actual ice to begin our trek we were slightly wet and a little tired.

The base of the glacier was amazing. It is huge and slowly pushing forward. SO as we sat down to put our spikes on our boots you could see chunks of ice, rock and dirt ocasionally falling off the glacier. The glacier moves almost 6" per day.

After we were all geared up they split us into 2 groups. Our group had 7 people plus our guide. We started up the glacier on steps cut into the face with ropes anchored into the ice via ice screws. They have to recut the steps every morning due the melt, movement etc. We worked our way up for about 1 hour or so following an existing rout thru what is called the "terminal face" of the glacier. It is where the glacier cracks and breaks apart due to it running into the dirt at the base.

When we were about 3/4 way through the terminal face our guide dug into a large barell left on the glacier and pulled out extra ice screws rope etc. and we began veering off the main path and cut a new one. At this point what was a clear beautiful day turned into light rain. Too warm to snow but still very cold. So as we slowly worked our way up we got colder and colder.

We cut our way into some awesome deep revenes that were an incredible blue color. We had to jump over crevases that seemed to hundereds of feet deep. You couldnt even see the bottom. We had to be on the lookout for falling ice chunks and be cautious where you steped.

All of a sudden we emerged from the craked terminal face portion of the glacier and were on top of the main glacier itself. Just a giant ice flow coming from above. Flat and pitched uphill. Not as cut up as the face area but still ridden with deep crevases that you would never be able to get out of if you fell into.

We were also joined by a Kea bird. Its a alpine parrot. It has the colors of a parot, but the body of an eagle with huge tallons and beak. If flew right up to us and we were able to get some great pics of this amazing animal. It also continuted to rain as we continued up the glacier. We eventually stopped and had lunch in the rain. When you stop moving on a giant sheet of ice in the rain it gets very cold quickly. Our hands were wet from grabbing the ice and ropes and it didnt take long for us to eat and get moving again.

I guess I should mention that all the guides are wearing the same sort of ice boots as us with the spikes, the woolen socks and short pants! Thats right.. as we freeze our asses off with multiple layers of clothing they are wearing shorts. I guess they are tougher then us.

After lunch we turned around and headed back. We retraced our steps all the way back to the base of the ice and hiked back to the carpark. We got back to our campsite at 6:00. We left at 10:30. It was a full day and we were both very sore the next day. It was like being on the stairmaster for 6 hours plus doing upper body workout the entire time as well. 2 days later and we are still recovering. And the guides do it every day. Amazing.

Legs, Glaciers, Beaches, Etc.

I am currently writing this post from a old broken down school bus painted red and turned into an internet cafe. Its currently raining outside but set to clear overnight. Overall the New Zealander's are a tougher bunch then us Americans. They will wear shorts regardless of the weather conditions. If its sunny and warm or cold and raining. Its not uncommon to see a road crew (equivalent to our Caltrans) working in the rain with neon safety vests, work boots with long woolen socks and "short pants" Often they are very "short pants" coming high upon the thigh. I've even seen denim shorts with the bottoms rolled kinda like NKOTB would have worn. Mix that with a nice Canadian looking mullet and you have one hunk of a New Zealand man. Friendly folks despite their fashion handicap.

Anyway, for the last few days we have been making our way from North to South along the western side of the South island. We have mainly been sticking to the coast. It is beautiful, very steep shoreline like Big Sur, with a climate like Hawaii mixed with California. We stopped one day and took a hike down to the northern most breeding ground of the fir seal. Beautiful animals, and so cute with their little pups. It's mating season so the large males battle it out for the hottest most blubbery females. They made quite a racket with all their screaming and thrashing around. Everyone knew who the real boss of the area was, He was a gigantic slow moving beast of a seal. He pretty much ruled the beach. We named him big poppa and judging from the scars and marks on his body he had been swimming the seas between New Zealand and the south pole for quite a few years. Very neat to see.

Today we stopped on our journey at a cave area that was little mentioned in the guide book and took short hike out to the mouth of a cave with nobody around. We brought our headlamps and started walking into the caverns. It was instantly dark and our little REI headlamps didnt even produce enough light to see 6" in front of you. It was that dark. So we ended up on our hands and knees shining the light on the ground directly in front of us. We passed through large caverns that progressively got smaller and smaller, and then through a section we had to squeeze ourselves through. The entire time we were both very nervous and our hearts were definately beating faster then normal. After a while we reached a part where we could go no deeper, we turned our headlamps off looking for the New Zealand glow worm. Its this little worm that lives deep withing caves and glows in the dark. After all our climbing we saw a faint glow. Only one glow worm. Oh well we saw it none the less. Strange the way it glows in the dark. We took a few pics and beat a hasty retreat out of the caves. So eerie being deep within the dark earth all alone. All I thought of was the recent earthquake here and how we would be crushed instantly.

And now we are in Franz Joseph Glacier. Its a small town at the bottom of the Southern New Zealand alps. A large river runs through the town with the telltale bright blue color of glacier melt. At the head of the river, just outside town is the bottom of Franz Joseph Glacier. Tomorrow a bus picks us up at 10:30 AM for a 6 hour ice climb up the glacier. I hope we are in shape for it. More later.

The pictures say it all.

So we've been here at Pohara Beach for a few days now and it is Christmas Day today. We're a day ahead of you all. We wish you the best holiday and thank you for your e-mails, my space messages and comments here. They really make our trip that much more enjoyable. We miss you and love you!! Thank you for all you have done for us to help make this journey happen.

Luckily the sun decided to come out to let us dry out, again, today. At least for a bit. We actually haven't been up to a whole lot since Chris last wrote his very animated post. We did go to some local springs, but you're not allowed to swim in them anymore because of some evasive algae that is growing in the lake nearby. We thought we were going for a hike for a couple of hours and a swim, but it ended up just being a 20 minute stroll around the spring. Very pretty and I really wish we could have gone in but no. So we stopped at a winery on the way back and ended up buying a bottle of Chardonnay, which doesn't quite taste like the kind we're used to but is good with lunch on the beach. Or should I say was good.

Yesterday we spent the whole day in the tent. We got a bit stir crazy after hour 8 in our 7x7 cell...or how it began to feel after all that time. Luckily we had purchased a blue tarp the day before...and now I can call it our trusty blue tarp. Since our cheap tent doesn't have a real rain fly we we're soaked last downfall. This time we were fairly dry. No puddles inside, just heavy condensation from ourselves and I think some of the moisture coming from the ground. We read alot, talked, sang along with our i-pods....Jimmy Buffet is so uplifting!! ( I think that should have been a secret, whoops) and played cards. The highlight was getting out to make dinner. Whoo hoo!! Oh well.

So being in this area makes me feel like a little kid because of all the names of places. Say them outloud. Lake Takaka....Te Waikoropupu Springs....Wairupipi....and giggle like a school child. I love it!!

So we'll be headed South tomorrow and unfortunately I think there will be more rain in our future. I think we'll have more beach and dry time in Australia. Until later!!

A Beautiful Day in New Zealand

The sun is finally out and shinging in full force. No more fear of a semi-tropical monsoon flooding our K-mart tent and carrying us into the Tasman Sea. Now its sunstroke, sand fleas, and excessive intoxication we have to worry about.

Two days ago we stayed in the town of Nelson which is on the "classic New Zealand" wine trail. Did a little wine tasting and moved on the next day for Pohara beach. We have a great campsite beachside with sounds of the ocean filling our tent at night. Will be staying here for a while. Very relaxing and very nice. Yesterday we drove about 10 minutes from our campsite to a trail head that lead to a very nice waterfall. The trail was narrow and zig zaged over some streams and crossed over a large river once. The crossing over the river had this sort of rope bridge we had to walk on. It had a large sign that said it was rated for only one person at a time. A little disconcerting. Heahter had no problemb crossing the bridge. I think it is due to her size and weight. As I crossed I made the damn thing jump like a cat on a hot plate. Anyway the waterfall was great and the best part was we were alone and were able to enjoy it to ourselves.

Today we took a long 11 Km hike out around to some beautiful beaches. At one point the trail crosses a sort of bay or estuary. We had to wait for the tides to receed so we could cross over. Even then the water came up to Heathers waist. It was worth the effort beautiful white beaches and clear blue skies and water. We accidentally wandered into a bird nesting site and Heather was attacked by some large intimidating bird. The bird had speed and no fear. It struck at Heathers had like a bold of lighting, pecking at her hat and making us run like hell for cover. I think all the birds in New Zealand should be rendered flightless like the Kiwi and the Penguins they have here. It would make travel alot safer for us Americans. Maybe Bush should look into this for us.

Since it is winter time in California Heather and I are both fairly pale. No suntan. Fortunately for some reason New Zealand seems to draw quite a few Germans. Their pale, boarderline clear skin make us look dark in comparison. Its strage at times I feel like I am back in Germany. The campsite we are at is literally 95% German. I havent seen so much neon clothing since 1985. We have yet to meet one American in New Zealand. Kinda strange. Until Next time..Spreken Zie Deutsch??!!??

We're wringing our tent out.

So as of today we have landed on the South Island. I'm going to have to work backwards in time to remember correctly all that has happened. Today we drove our car onto the ferry which starts in Wellington in the north and lands in Picton in the South. We immediately starting driving west to our camping spot in Richmond, which is considered a part of the wine trail. We have visited a couple of wineries and we're still partial to Ca. wines. Yes the wine snobs we are. We still have bought a couple of bottles to enjoy while we're here. More about the ferry though. We drove our car onto the ferry and then were asked to park on this ramp that was at a good angle. The cars are parked so closely to each other that it's difficult to get out. I was afraid one of the cars would not have it's ebrake on and it would start a chain reaction of all the cars barreling into each other. We went onto the ferry, which was like a floating hotel lobby. Lots of places to chill, eat, drink, even watch a movie...for an extra charge. When we went to retrieve our car, it had moved. The ferry worker asked if we were lost, no, just our car wasn't where we had left it. Apparently we had parked on a hydrolic lift that was lifted up, and yes, that's where our car was. We got into the car. Had to wait for the floor below us to clear out and then they lowered us down, which us in the car. I know, not the things that you may find interesting, but I sure did. Onto the sights....

We spent a day and a half in the geothermic area of Rotorua. As we drove into town we passed by a park...in the middle of the town and Chris noticed steam coming from it. We immediately pulled over and started an hour or so exploration of the park. It had rocks that were warm, just sitting on the ground, bubbling pools of steaming mud, a small, steaming and bubbling lake and a few hot springs to stick your feet in. It was crazy but the sulfur smell was yucky. You get used to it though. Then we hit up the hot springs in town. Right on the coast of the lake there. There were about 5 different pools to chose from, all at different temperatures. Felt very relaxing and the sulfur is actually really good for the skin. The next day we went to Wai-o-Tapu,the big place where a geyser goes off at 10:15 every morning and the craziest geothermal lakes, craters, you name it. Well, with all the masses sitting around the geyser at 10:15 an announcer comes up and well, basically pours soap into the geyser to set it off. We kinda felt ripped off but not by the rest of the park. Different minerals create different colors and there were colors I didn't know exsisted outside the 1980's. Florescents of orange and green and yellow. This place was just mind boggling. We felt like we were on another planet. Once we get the pictures loaded, you'll see. And Chris took a ton. We even were almost able to recreate the cover of our Rough Guide guide book. To continue down south we went to Hastings, which is also on the wine trail. Unfortunately this is when the sky opened up and the kiwi's got some badly needed rain. Our tent, which cost us $25 about 8 years ago was up to the test, but barely. We got a bit damp but our tent was soaked and covered in mud. There was no way it could handle one more night of this. When we were inside of it you couldn't touch the walls for fear that it would leak all over you. What else could we do but laugh. The next day....yesterday, we headed to Wellington, which everyone said was a lot like San Francisco. We decided to rent a cabin room at the campsite to dry out for a night. It was perfect. Just a room with a bunkbed, a single, and a heater!! Chris jerryrigged our clothes line and hung up our tent on it...inside the room. We left the room a bit dirtier than we found it, but we were much drier. Now Wellington is lot like SF. Houses on the hills. Had an interesting, creative feel to it. The buildings were all so different and modern looking. "Very Ikea", I kept saying. We were there very briefly, but I loved it!! I'd move there. We also saw one of the most beautiful sunsets from the pier...at 9:00 p.m.

So I think that catches us up. We're still trying to decide exactly what to do over the next few days. We just hope that the rain stays intermitten. I think the tent can handle that. Otherwise we'll have to figure out some sort of rainfly/ shelter solution. Possibly a blue tarp.

Until next time!!

first 3 day in New Zealand by Chris

Hello everyone. this is my first post on the blog. We had a uneventful flight from the US. The only incident was that the person sitting in front of us on or flight form SFO to Australia was removed from the plane prior to taking off. Aparently he was using a stolen passport. Seems like they should have figured that out before he made it on the plane.

New Zealand is a beautiful country. The weather is a mixture of Hawaii and California. It has California type temperature with the Hawaiian type rain squalls that come and last for 1 hour then leave. Everyone has been very freiendly and helpful.

We are currently camping right on the beach in a resort called Papamoa on the Eastern side of the North Island. Today we went on a 2 hour hike to the top of the local mountain which is an extinct volcanoe. Had a great view of the surrounding area. We also stopped by a local winery and did some tasting. Its incredible the wineries here have free tasting. What a concept.

Tomorrow we are off to Rotorua which aparently is very volcanic and active with bubbling hotsprings and geysers. Should be fun.

Thats all for now. We will try to update again in the next day or so.

We've landed!!

Chris and I landed in Auckland, New Zealand earlier today. We've managed to lose a whole day in the process. We went from Wednesday to Friday. Oh well. The first flight to Australia was pretty long but Chris held strong and slept through most of it, while I mananged to get airsick for the first time in my life. Yeah!!! Then a 2 hour layover there, where we bought a $7 bottle of water. Yep, $7 and you bet it was the best water we've ever had. We then took our next flight to NZ and picked up our rental car. But not before they had to check our tent at customs for bio...something another. It passed and so did our shoes. Chris is doing great at driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the street. I think I'll remain a passenger for a few more days until I can wrap my head around the whole concept. You even have to remember the turn signal switch is on the right hand side. Whoops. My time is running out on the internets machine :). We'll update again when we can!!

It works!!!!

So this is how we're going to deal with posting pictures. We will have a few different memory cards on hand with us. As we find internet cafes that will allow us to burn photos to cds, we will do that. Then we will mail a copy of that to Heather's mom. She will inform us when she receives it and will then upload it to Picasa for all to view. Then we can clear that memory card and continue the process. Yeah!! Thank you mom!!! So you will get words about our adventures before the pictures. No biggie.

Other than that things have been winding up and winding down here. Chris had his last day of work today and we've been doing some final last minute things. I think we both have a mixture of excitement and nervousness happening, but that's o.k. We do have our tickets to Bangkok purchased, yeah!! We'll be there January 14th. Just a quick jaunt to Australia but that's how it needs to be on this trip. We'll be back, promise.

So I'd been having some difficulties getting a confirmation from the glacier walking company via e-mail. My cell phone wasn't allowing me to make an international call and the phone lines are so bad here we couldn't hear people when we were making international phone calls, so communication was difficult and I was getting a bit worried. I finally shot them another e-mail with the hopes they'd e-mail back. This evening I got a call on my cell from a mysterious number. I usually don't answer those, but I did. This woman was speaking on the other line. I could tell she was speaking English but I just couldn't make out what she was saying. Right away I knew it was the glacier company, so I concentrated really hard and got all the confirmation information. How nice of them to call me. Apparently whenever they were e-mailing me it was bouncing back. That has me a bit worried but I haven't really had many people say that to me before, except Laura. Hmmm..I hope that doesn't happen while I'm gone. Aghh. So after we got off the phone I was happy to know that we will be playing on the Franz Josef Glacier on December 28th!!! I just hope I can learn how to understand New Zealanders better when they speak.

And on that note, we're out in just 2 days!!!

An experiment with photos

I'm trying out a couple of different techniques on how to post our photos. Click on the album below to see a bunch...but not all of our pics in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 2006

Let's see how this works.

9 Days to Go!!

So we've got our tickets to Australia. We'll be headed there on January 2nd. Unfortunately we will be spending very little time there. Much less than we wanted to, but it's just too expensive to stay there for very long. With much sadness we're going to cut out The Great Barrier Reef. I know, people are going to give us a lot of guff (yes, I said guff) for that, but it is what it is. We'll fly into Brisbane and leave out of Sydney just 12 days later. We'll fly into Bangkok. Yeah. From there our South East Asia travels will be much more open. We'll just go where we feel, when we feel it.

In New Zealand we'll get to be somewhat free. We contacted the Top 10 camp grounds and they pretty much never fill up their tent site area, so we don't need to reserve ahead of time any tent sites. The only for sure date we have is crossing from the North to the South on the ferry on December 20th. We've put in a request for glacier walking on the Franz Josef Glacier for December 28th, but haven't gotten a response back. Cross your fingers. We're pretty flexible though. I'm sure they can squeeze us in somewhere. We're thinking of spending Christmas Eve on the beach. Why not? It'll be a nice change from our usual Christmas's. We'll at least make sure we get a good bottle of wine from one of the wineries we visit. That will be our little celebration. Probably some of the same on New Years as well.

As for our current lives, we're both working this week. Chris actually is working through next Monday. I'm only subbing through this Wednesday, then my job will be to tie up any loose ends we might have but we feel pretty well prepared. It still doesn't feel totally real. We both go through our days feeling pretty much the same, with little twinges of excitement here and there. I think it won't feel real until we're actually on a plane headed across the Pacific. That's how it's been for my last travel experiences as well.

Like I said, I'll get Chris on this thing sooner or later. Hopefully the next entry will be him. His writing skills are probably better than mine and perhaps a bit more interesting. But the stories should get more interesting once we get on the road. Until next time.

We're planning New Zealand

So we got our "Top 10" card in the mail this week. This is a card that gives us a discount on their campsites and on the ferry ride between the north and south islands of New Zealand. We've ruled out renting a camper van because it no longer fit into our budget since we'll be there during their holiday season. We're renting a teeny compact, bringing the basic camping gear and camping there for about 3 weeks. It looks like we'll be spending most of our time on the south island. It seems to have more nature and hiking. We're going to try to check out a few wineries there too. See if we can't find anything interesting. Also, what we're really excited about is going glacier climbing in the south. It'll be one of our "splurge" items in our budget. Then it'll be on to Australia to see Chris's cousins and aunt, oh, and a bit of the country too. We know our time there will be way, way, way too short, but we'll go back some day. Chris wants to see the Great Barrier Reef and I(Heather) want to see the Sydney Opera House. I usually don't seem to care about the big tourist draws but for some reason I really want to see it in person. Boy that sounded pretentious. Sorry.

Time is ticking down and it's finally starting to feel real. We've been trying to visit with friends and saying our goodbyes to people. Though six months isn't that long, it can sometimes feel like it's forever. When we get back, kids will have grown a ton and some new ones will have been born. It's just crazy how it all works. And exciting!!!!!

I'll try to get Chris in on this blogging thing too. We're hoping to be able to keep it up while we're on the road. We don't know how easily we'll be able to post pictures, but we'll try. We'll also try to check our e-mail regularly. So you can find us there too. You can pretty much e-mail from almost anywhere in the world, or so we've experienced on our other travels. Talk to you later.

One Month To Go

(Us geared up for ziplining in Monteverde Cloud Forrest, Costa Rica) As some of you know we have been planning this trip for a while. It was just a twinkle of an idea in February of this year and some how has grown into reality. I (Heather) had already given my notice at work, thinking we were just moving and Chris had a job interview in Tahoe. During his interview he was asked, "What will you do if you don't get this job?". He replied, " I don't know, travel around the world". When he told me he said that I was all for it. So we thought about it...I mean our stuff was already going to be in boxes to move, so why not? It's the opportunity of a lifetime. And so here we are, with just a month left until we leave and only our first plane ticket bought...oh and our rental car. So the idea is to be out for 6 months, or until the money runs out, which ever comes first. Or if we miss our dog, Piper, so much we can't stand it any longer.

Our tentative route is as follows:
New Zealand
Australia
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
Laos
Jordan
Egypt
Eastern Europe
and go home through Amsterdam

Since we're going just a leg at a time anything could change. We may just decide to stay in one place the whole time, or skip several destinations altogether. It's all based on how we feel at the time. Kinda nice, huh?

So there it is if you didn't know anything yet. Stay tuned for more.