The first day I headed out to Milford Sound. It’s world famous for its amazing views and incredible walking track. While we didn’t have any time for walking the track we took a full day tour out into the waters of the sound. The 4 hour coach took us from Queenstown around the mountains and down to Milford. Even the views from the coach were stunning.

The drive took us through some gnarly terrain along the Milford Road. The drivers need a special certification to be allowed to drive this road during the winter because it can get really bad. Sometimes there’s snow, sometimes ice, sometimes both. Every few hundred meters there was evidence of avalanches from the last year. Apparently the roads been closed 13 days already this year because of the slides and supposed to get worse.

One section of trees looked completely obliterated. There was no snow to be seen even though they had been tossed around recently. The avalanche had stopped further up the hill but the blast of air that comes down with the snow left the trees uprooted and in various snapped and broken positions.

Finally, our anxious bus ride was over and we were greeted with the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen.

The breeze was calmly blowing through the sound as we boarded the boat and started the 2 hour putter to the Tasman Sea. I lost count the number of times I completely zoned out, dumbstruck by the beauty of the water, mountains, and snow. The past few days had been filled with rain so the waterfalls were moving pretty good and they were all over the place. Small ones, tall ones, wide ones, narrow ones.

The landscape looked prehistoric. I half expected a brontosaurus to raise it’s head out of the misty woods.

On the way out to the sound the driver teased us with the prospect of flying back over the mountains in a helicopter or a plane. Not only would it give us a site of the incredibly picturesque mountains and water, we’d be back in Queenstown in 30 minutes to enjoy the rest of our day. After flying around in the helicopter on the Franz Josef Glacier, I was set on defying gravity again. Once I heard the price of $550 bucks to take the flight back, I had to rethink my choice of travel. Even the flight back was a bit steep at $330. Nearer to the terminal though, the driver announced that we could get a deal for the plane flight at $260(and even less after the exchange). That sealed it. I was going to fly back to Queenstown over the mountains.

I wasn’t disappointed.

35 minutes of absolutely amazing views.

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After the scenery of Franz Josef I was really excited to get to Queenstown. It was probably the most talked about of all the places in New Zealand and I was anxious to see what it was like.

I was quite surprised with how small it was. I was expecting a much larger full size town but when we rolled into the city limits all that was there were a few suburbs and a little ski town. I have to say though, I was quite impressed by the time I left with how much this little ski town has to offer.

Coming in to town we passed the bridge that bungy started on. The Kawarau Bridge was the site of the original bungy and it’s still operating today. Jumpers only fall 43 meters before hitting the water but only some of them do the water jump.

After jumping a little boat unhooks the jumpers from the bungy and are taken back to the shore. We watched a few from the viewing platform and all I can say is don’t jump with your feet first.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxed wandering around in town looking for a mexican restaurant. We had been talking about burritos and margaritas that day and had the crave on. After finding the ridiculously expensive mexican place we opted to head down the street to Fergburger instead.

The next few posts will be about my activities in Queenstown so stay tuned!

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One of the items on my “must do” list for New Zealand was hiking on a glacier. We headed down to Franz Josef from Greymouth and arrived in time for a half day hike on the glacier. The cheaper option was a walk to the terminal face of the glacier and up the ice a bit. The other was a heli-hike that flew up higher on the glacier, returning you to town after a couple hours on the ice. I had originally planned to only do the half-day hike since it was cheaper and I could move on down the coast the next day but after hearing recommendations about the heli-hike I had to change my mind.

An American girl from the bus and 7 others joined me on the heli-hike and it was amazing. I would have been happy with just the helicopter ride above the glacier but having a couple hours on the ice just made it so much better.

The ride up the chopper hugged the hills, banking and turning giving us incredible views of the valley and the glacier itself. I have a feeling the pilot was having a great time coming down the valley to where we would start our hike as he pulled some sharp turns then dropped the struts lightly onto the ice. We clambered out and anxiously waited for the rest of the group to be ferried up.

After a bit of instruction from our guide Brendan we had donned our crampons and set off onto the ice. Walking with 10 spikes on your feet takes a bit of getting used to but was very liberating once it clicked. Although it definitely wasn’t recommended you could literally run around on the ice. The ice was 40-100 meters thick in some places but could be paper thin in others. There could only be a small opening or a bit of water underneath or a massive cavern that you probably wouldn’t get out of. Walking in a single file line behind the guide was fairly important as none of us wanted to test out their crevasse rescue techniques.

Our itinerary included anywhere we wanted to go. Brendan showed us a few neat spots on the flatter part of the ice then took us in random directions towards the larger seracs further up the glacier. For those that haven’t read much about glaciers or mountaineering, seracs are the towers of ice that are left freestanding when 2 crevasses intersect. They range from small enough to step over to enormous blocks of ice that would crush the group if it fell.

The rest of our time was spent wandering through, under and over the ice doing our best to stay upright on the steep sections. One of the girls bailed a few times on the downhill sections but the rest of the group did well. If we hit a section that was too steep to scale, Brendan would chop out some steps and we’d cruise on through. Sometimes it’s just not possible to continue. About half way we got a bit stuck and after a few minutes of Brendan climbing around on the ice like a monkey, we gave up and headed back to a previous track and went a different direction.

I tried to get into the front seat for the ride back but everyone was seated to balance out the chopper so we were back to our assigned seats. The view was again stunning and the ride exciting. The helicopter seemed to defy the laws of physics rising straight up and peeling off sideways during our flight.

Back on the ground again with a big grin on my face, we wandered off to the hostel to get cleaned up and ready for the Australia vs New Zealand Rugby game at the local pub.

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Three Sisters

It was freezing in the mountains. The sun was still shining when I rolled in but it sure wasn’t that warm. I quickly got out the pants and jacket and made the most of the heat from the sun. I strolled around town, taking a look into some of the shops and grabbing some groceries and then it was back to the hostel to shave. I had yet this trip and my beard was getting to be a fair length, the longest I’ve ever had it. I originally had a goal of letting it go all trip just to see how long it would get but it was more annoying that I thought so the time has come. I’ll post photos soon.

Outside later my face felt cold, I had gotten used to an extra layer of warmth. It would be nice to have it gone for running though, it was just too warm most of the time. Later I checked out the Edge film at the theatre there. This particular video plays on an oversized cinema a few times a day. It’s not quite Imax sized but it’s considerably larger than a regular movie screen. The movie was about the Blue Moutains, everything you can do in and on them, and how unique they are. It starts with the recent discovery of a type of tree deep in the mountains that has survived since the age of dinosaurs and is found no where else on the planet. The theme and feel of the movie definitely tugged on a thread that made me want to protect places like these for our children to see. Most of them are dissappearing all too quickly.

I came to Katoomba to see these Blue Mountains so the second day I was there I headed out to Echo Point. You could be in Katoomba for days and not know that it hangs on the edge of a cliff that drops into the valleys of the Blue Mountains and offers stunning views off the cliffs and mountains on the opposite side. Due to my lack of time here, I elected to just do one of the basic trails that starts at Echo Point, follows the cliffs over to Katoomba Falls and then descends trail and stair to the valley floor then across towards the Three Sisters. The trail and waterfalls were incredible and I was off in my own little world until I hit the Giant Stairway.

Katoomba Falls

It was over 300m up to the pathways along the top of the cliffs and I was at the bottom. Thankfully someone decided to put a huge set of more than 800 stairs straight up the cliff so I could get to where I wanted to go. Bless their heart. Mine sure felt like it was going to explode on the way up. As usual, I was trying to keep up the pace all the way up the metal and stone stairs that was more like a ladder in some places. Most people I passed were going down and while they were having a great time commenting on how steep it was, I could only grunt in response and try to smear the stinging sweat somewhere other than my eyes. I survived the great climb and took in the awesome sight of the Three Sisters at the top.

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Razorback by the 12 Apostles

End of Silent Street on the way to the Pinnacle

View from Mount William, the tallest in the Grampians

Mackenzie Falls

Panoramic view of the Sydney Opera House by Christian Mehlführer, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:MC_Sydney_Opera_House.jpg, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5

Sydney

When you find a website or look at a book about Australia there is going to be a few things mentioned. The Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, and the Sydney Opera House.

The Opera House is one of Australia’s iconic symbols. Most people can tell you what and where it is without blinking an eye. I’ll definitely be having a closeup look at this place while I’m down there. It is where I land and where I’ll leave from.

Their official website is http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/ and has all the good information about shows to see and how to get a guided tour.

The City of Sydney also has their own website with tons of information of things to do and how to get there, http://www.sydney.com/ . I’m particularly interested in the outdoor part of things, which they’ve got lots of destinations to choose from.

National Parks

Sydney and New South Wales ( the state Sydney is in) have numerous outdoor areas and national parks. Blue Mountains, Barrington Tops, Dorrigo and Mungo are just a few of the parks that have many trails open for guided or non-guided walks through them. The beautiful scenery makes getting outside high on the list of things to do for many travellers.

View from Mount Warning

Mountains around Sydney

Mount Warning is very close to Australia’s eastern most point, Cape Byron. Being a fair bit higher than the surrounding area makes it the first place in Australia to get hit by the sun each day. From what I’ve heard, the sunrise from the summit is quite spectacular.

Mount Kosciuszko is Australia’s tallest mountain. Relatively short compared to the tallest mountains on other continents, hikers can reach the summit in the summer in a couple hours from the trailhead. My trip takes me to this area around the middle of the Australian winter so it will be hard to tell if  trail runners alone will take me to the top. Summiting this peak is definitely on the list of things to do but might take more preparation and gear than I’ll have with me.  Australia in the summer will be have to be added the adventure list!

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island has to be one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen in photos. Some places look completely different in real life but I’d imagine this one looks exactly as amazing and beautiful in real life. The only issue with travelling there is that it’s a little out of the way. It requires a plane ride from Sydney or New Zealand and is not exactly cheap.  Getting to the island is only half the battle. Because of the fragile ecosystem and the number of rare species of birds and plants on the island, camping is not permitted. Accomodations start at about $130 a night and go up from there. Not what I call backpacker friendly! Check out http://www.lordhoweisland.info/ for info, pictures and contact info.

Quantas offers daily flights from Sydney for $336 – $620 depending on the time and date.   http://www.oxleytravel.com.au/lhi/23.html often has deals on to get to Lord Howe Island from Sydney and Brisbane. These are probably your cheapest bet but check out the prices for flights and accomodation and then see what the deals are like.   Flying from Auckland in New Zealand will cost ya $700-$900 depending on the deal you find.

~Ross

- always an adventure -