Orchard work ... Again

It was sad to see Bob leave and once he was gone Michelle and I looked at each other as if we didn’t know what to do. It was as if our vacation ended and we needed to get back to work too; but where? We spent a couple days in Christchurch deciding our next destination and possible home for the next two months. We chose to head back to Wanaka, since it was such a beautiful area and there’s so much to see there.

When we arrived in Wanaka it was rainy, again; it seems as if it’s always been rainy in Wanaka L It’s boring and quite depressing when your living out of a van down by the river. These occasions really make us home sick. All Jeremy wants to do is lie on the couch with his snuggy, have a glass of wine, and watch a movie, but we don’t have a couch, so Jeremy cuddled up in his snuggy and read on the bed. I know what your thinking, and yes, he brought his snuggy.

When the weather did clear up, we hiked up Mt. Isthmus. This was a beautiful hike with views of lakes Hawea and Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. The color of the lakes here were such an attractive turquoise color it almost seemed fake. This was our first time really getting a good look at the area and it made us even more eager to find jobs so we could stay here.

Our job search so far has been frustrating. As you can imagine it’s difficult to find temporary work. It’s not that we are unemployable; it’s the fact that we are only going to be in the area for such a short period.

We initially started looking for jobs that we would like to do. After a few emails and stopping by a couple shops we realized its not probable, so we “lowered our standards” so to speak and broadened our search, but were still coming up jobless. We are at the point now where we will really take anything. We’ve sent out dozens of emails and texts inquiring about jobs and only a few responses have come back, and that is what’s most frustrating about the whole situation. Every email or text that we send out gives us a little hope, and we just sit and wait hoping to get a response so we can move on. So the job search in Wanaka isn’t going well, but there are other jobs out there. We’ll just have to move on and come visit Wanaka when we have the time.

Besides the job search, our time spent here in Wanaka has been amazing. The weather has been great; sunny and hot (around mid 80’s). We’ve done some hikes in Mt. Aspiring National Park that have been awesome. The Rob Roy Glacier hike was one of our favorite hikes, we did it twice.

We left beautiful sunny Wanaka and drove 1 hour to start the Brewster hut hike, and when we arrived at the trail head it was raining. This is where we feel really fortunate, because we just turned around and drove back to sunny Wanaka and relaxed down by the river. The next day the forecast for the hike was great so off we went. We were excited as this was going to be our first overnight stay in the backcountry huts. We really didn’t know what was in store for us. For starters, neither of us actually read the trail description. We just knew it was about 3hrs to the hut. Like the wino’s we are, we had to pack a bottle of wine, and why not?Since we weren't taking the tent and other heavy camping supplies, we might as well fill up our packs with other crap. The hike was brutal. The first 20 minutes where spent climbing a steep hill. This is when we realized the entire hike was probably this way, and it was. 

About an hour into the hike, I started feeling tired, light-headed and a little dizzy and my stomach wasn't great either. I oppressed the feeling and pushed onward, but it just got worse and worse. We only had about an hour to go when I finally confessed how bad it had gotten. We should have turned around earlier, but now we were so close to the hut it would be better off to go there instead of turning around. All I was doing was cursing the stupid wine in my pack. After hiking straight up 1000 meters or 3,300 feet, we did finally make it to the hut and the views were magnificent. 

Great views, beautiful hut, and friendly people to chat with. It was a very pleasant evening until bed time. Although it was cold on the mountain, the hut got really hot with all the others we shared it with. Neither of us got any sleep. When we did “Wake up” the next morning we still decided to continue the tramp to the top of Mt. Armstrong; another 700 meters, 2300 ft. I was feeling much better, but we were both exhausted. It was worth it! We were rewarded with absolutely breathtaking views. From this peak we could see almost all of Mt. Aspiring park, and the Tasman sea on the other side. Another sight that quickly became one of our most favorite views. (Video on Picassa)

We found some snowy hills and had a few fun slides, along with a couple of scary slides too, but we came out alright. The descent of Mt. Armstrong was hell, 1700 meters is approximately 5,600 feet down the mountain. Although it only took about 3 hrs to get down, we were still feeling the affects from it 3 days later. Neither Michelle or I have ever been this sore after a hike; different from the 3 day hike since that was sore bones, this was purely muscle aching. We took a few days off from hiking to recover, and we needed it. We spent the time lying on the beach, swimming in the rivers, and looking for jobs. 

It was extremely frustrating not getting work and it was putting us in bad moods, so we continued to leave the city area and go hiking, often. We spent another 8 hrs hiking through a valley to Kitchner valley, which was incredible too. We were completely surrounded by huge mountainous rock walls that were covered in glaciers and waterfalls. The rivers flowing all around us on a HOT sunny day. We took a couple baths and they all felt incredible. Nothing like swimming in glacial runoff. 

So I finally got a job working as part-time dishwasher, but Michelle was having trouble. Every place wanted someone more permanent than 2 months. So we spent a few days looking for her and then we hit the jackpot. A place in Cromwell, 30 minutes from Wanaka, is looking for a couple to work on their family orchard and take care of there 3 children. Well Michelle called, we met up with them, and we got the job! We start tomorrow. Although I'm a little bummed I can't wash dishes all day. We'll be picking and packaging peaches, nectarines, and apricots for a couple weeks until some nannying is needed, then Michelle will break off from the orchard work and become Super Nanny :-| 
We'll be very busy for the next 6 weeks. We'll be working from early morning till late in the afternoon 6 days a week. This is what we've been hoping to get. Heaps of work in a short period of time, so we can move on and enjoy our adventure. We are not sure if we'll have internet connection while we are there, so this could be our last post for while. We miss ya'll at home, and Michelle wishes many of you were here to help her with the child care ;-) 

If you would like to see more of our pictures click on the following picassa link. Picassa: Wanaka & Mt. Aspiring National Park

The Adventures with Eddie Bobby

Queenstown from the gondola 

On New Years Eve we picked up Bob from the Christchurch airport and headed to Queenstown. We chose Qtown for NYE because it is known for the younger crowds, bustling nightlife, and fantastic fireworks show over the lake. We arrived in Qtown about the same time the rain did, but we didn’t let it get our spirits down. We had a great time bar-hopping in the downtown area waiting for the fantastic fireworks show (the rain even let up for it). We stayed at a caravan park, so we were able to use all of the amenities we’ve been missing; a large kitchen with hot water and an oven, a lounge with comfy seats and a TV, restrooms with HOT SHOWERS! It’s literally been an entire month since Michelle and I have had a hot shower, so we made sure to get our fill. The rain continued for a couple of days so we spent most of our time in shops, restaurants, bars (including an ice bar where everything is made of ice!), and more hot showers. We even snuck into a hotel on a cold morning and used its hot-tub ;-) These were all new experiences for Michelle and I since we’ve been living quite humble out of the van, but it was heaps of fun spoiling ourselves with Bob. We stayed in Qtown for a few nights to let Bob recover from the jet-lag because we were headed on quite the adventure.

Chillin out at the Ice Bar

South of Qtown, in the smaller town of Te Anau, lies the Kepler Track. The Kepler Track is a 37.2 mile, 3-4 day loop track taking you from the forested shores of lake Te Anau to the alpine top of Mt Luxmore. The reward for the hill climb was a long section with marvellous panoramic views of the Kepler Mountains on one side, and lakes, rivers and valleys on the other. In other words we were in for a world of hurt. Our Backpacks were filled with the essential camping equipment needed for 3 days: food, cooking equipment, tent, sleeping bags & pad, extra clothing for the cold times and other necessary items. We estimated our packs to weigh around 30lbs each. The first day wasn’t too bad; it took us about 4 hrs to walk 9.4 miles with these gigantic backpacks. We set up camp and rested on the shores of Lake Te Anau, knowing the next day was the big day. The second day was a real mission; 14.3 miles, ascending over 4000 feet, a few hours hiking on the peaks then followed by descending 4000 feet. It took us approximately 10 hrs with many breaks and photo stops. We were exhausted after this long day of hiking and just wanted to rest up for the third day. 

Our last day was supposed to be easy in comparison to the previous day; 13.4 miles, 5 hrs and relatively flat, however, it was by far the most difficult. Our bodies, mainly our feet, were aching from the pain from the previous days. Our backpacks seemed to get heavier, even though they were actually getting lighter. Ten minutes seemed like an hour. It felt like we were never going to make it, but the cold beer waiting for us at the bar was like the carrot on the stick.

It’s amazing all the different feelings and emotions we went through on this hike; excitement for the adventure and the curiosity of what’s to come, the peaceful isolation in the remoteness of the mountains, tired and weak from hiking all day, grateful we made it to the next rest stop or camping ground, miserable and sore from the pain in our feet and back, frustrated with ourselves that we actually wanted to do this hike, motivated and determined to finish the walk, and proud that we finished it. It was, without a doubt, the hardest hike we’ve ever done, but we wouldn’t have changed a thing.

 After we finished the Kepler Track, Bob decided to treat us to a hotel room back in Qtown. The truth is he didn’t want to sleep in the tent another night, and who could blame him? This worked out well since Michelle just came down with a cold and it hit her hard that night. The next morning we were all hurting from the hike so we decided to lounge around the pool for a couple hours then go luging. On top of the mountain in Qtown is a luge track that is a riot. You sit in this little plastic cart, pull back on the handle bars, and you start plunging down their windy and rolling paved track at speeds around 25 mph. To slow down all you do is pull the handle a little harder.  It’s like Mario cart without the banana peels and turtle shells. My weight advantage didn’t compare to Bob’s motorcross experience, he was fast and beat Michelle and I down the track nearly every time. We also had a few close calls of spilling off the track, but we had helmets, so no worry there;-)  Although this was enough excitement for Michelle and I, Bob needed something a little more “New Zealandy” so we took him bungy jumping. This was the same spot where I bungy jumped 7 years ago and is actually the worlds first bungy jump site.

The Luge Track

After Qtown we drove up to Mount Cook to do some exploring. We managed to put our boots back on and hike around a bit. Nothing major, just some nice walks with incredible views of Mount Cook and all of its glaciers. We camped on Lake Pukaki, which offered incredible views of Mount Cook and some brisk bathing water. Bob now understands how Michelle and I have been bathing the past few months.

Our Camping Spot

We planned to stop in Wanaka for a night or two before we headed out to the West coast, but severe storms caused flooding which took out the only bridge to the west coast. So we stayed in Wanaka for a few days where it seemed to rain the whole time. We still managed to have a good time by doing a small hike, some shopping and browsing in local shops and we also checked out the local brewery. Wanaka also has two of the best movie theaters so we checked them both out (we couldn’t leave here without watching The Hobbit). The first theatre had 12 huge comfy seats that reclined. I’ve never been more comfortable while watching a movie, especially since they served beer too! The other cinema wasn’t as good, but still beats most, as half of the seating was big couches and the other half were oversized movie theatre seats. It was a great experience that made me angry, as there aren’t any theatres like these at home.

The road to the west coast opened and closed again within a 24 hr period as more flooding took out the temporary road, so we had to scratch the West coast plans. Instead we found a place that had nice hot weather, Kaikoura. Michelle and I were there a few days before we picked up Bob. This was where we caught all the paua, and we were excited to find more with Bob. We arrived and the weather was beautiful. We spent the days there snorkeling, looking for NZ rock lobster and paua, fishing, and hiking. No luck with the lobster or fishing though. We were so happy not only to share in the experience of eating them, but also collecting them in the sea and cleaning them; I’m still trying to teach the cleaning part to Michelle. We loved the paua, and so did Bob. 

Here are the Paua! Yummy!

On another hot day we hiked up through a gorge that had heaps of freshwater pools and waterfalls that we cooled ourselves with. It was a beautiful hike for a hot day. I also had high hopes of bagging that eel, now that I had help, but that also was unsuccessful. We did see a few, but they are just too scary to go swimming after. Another day, another time.

It was a really fun, but fast two weeks with Bob. It rained half the time, so it was great having somebody else here, since misery loves company. But really, it was more fun having Bob here, as Michelle and I would have just cooped ourselves up in the van and played dice the whole time. There was so much that happened in such a short period of time and it was awesome that we could share the experiences of the Kepler Track, Queenstown NYE, Ice bar, and luge, cider beer, bathing in Lake Pukaki, The Hobbit, and paua with our great friend Bob.

Ready to Luge

If you would like to see more photos click on the following link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115853505113135701754/TwoWeeksWithBob

Happy Holidays at the Beach

Once we arrived in the South Island, we knew we only had a few weeks before our friend Bob joins us, so we couldn’t get too lost. We decided to visit the North West coast including the Abel Tasman National Park. On our way through more windy roads, we stopped to view Harwood’s Hole, a gigantic cave (hole in the ground) that was used in The Lord of the Rings; although we’re not sure what scene. The hole was huge and really intimidating. We couldn’t get a good view though, because neither of us wanted to get too close to the fragile rocky edge. Once we arrived in Takaka, we visited the Te Whikoropupu (Pupu) springs. The Pupu springs are quite the oxymoron, since they are the purest / clearest water in the world; forbidden to touch though. We suppressed the urge to touch the water or fill up our water bottles and ventured on later to find that our campsite was downstream of these springs. Here it wasn’t forbidden so we finally got a much-needed bath. In fact, we stayed here several nights and had many bone-chilling baths, but it the was cleanest water we’ve ever used!

We traveled up the coast of Golden Bay to hike around Wharariki Beach and farewell spit. Here we saw awesome dune and rock formations, and more seal colonies. We even got to experience a sand storm on one of the beaches; this was a bonus because we still needed a good sandblasting. On our way back to our campground we stopped at a calm beach and baked our selves.

We spent a day visiting the Rawhiti Cave, Labyrinth rocks, and the Grove. The cave had an enormous entrance with heaps of unique stalactites called photokarst. At first the stalactites looked normal, but if you look in the picture, some are aren’t pointing straight down like you would expect. Some are actually angled, which is a result of mosses and algae growing with the stalactite towards sunlight! Well, we thought it was pretty amazing. The Labyrinth rocks and the Grove offered more incredible rock formations with towers, chimneys, and gigantic boulders scattered about like it was professionally landscaped. And as the name suggests, it would be extremely easy to get lost amongst all the formations… just ask Michelle ;-)

The Abel Tasman National Park has an incredible 3-5 day coastal walk way with dozens of beaches and campgrounds that you can hike to (since there aren’t any roads). We didn’t feel like doing the whole great walk since we would need transportation afterwards, so we just did parts of it over a few days. The hikes brought you along the beach, up through some jungle to a lookout of the beach along with the next beach you’re headed to. 

The last day in the park we rented a sea kayak and explored the coast that way. We kayaked out to some islands that had some more seal colonies. The seals may look cute and cuddly, but they have the worst breath. I’m not kidding when I say you can smell it from 200-300 feet away. It’s terrible. We saw one in the water so we kayaked upwind from it to get a closer look. In the water, the seals are actually quite friendly, but on land they are very aggressive. The kayaking was a nice break from hiking, but after 6hrs of kayaking we were spent.

We spent Christmas day in Nelson on the beaches. It was a beautiful 85 degrees and sunny. We spent the day laying out, having a picnic and snorkeling (looking for paua). Although all the paua was too small it was fun looking at all the sea life. We are making our way to Christchurch so we can pick up Bob on the 31^st. We stopped in Kaikoura for a few days hoping for some good hiking, fishing, and paua gathering. The weather has not been the same as Nelson. It’s been chilly, windy, and rainy, but that didn’t stop us from going in the water to get some paua. We found a great spot and got eight paua in about 45 min. Eight was enough too, we were stuffed. As we were eating the paua, we were trying to compare it to other foods we normally eat. So the best we can describe it is a mixture between a clam and a scallop with a hint of morel mushroom. As you can imagine it’s quite popular here, but it’s illegal to sell or trade it, which means you can’t get it at the grocery or order it at a restaurant. The ONLY way to get it is to get it yourself. They have these restrictions along with a few others to prevent over fishing and ensure the survival of the species.

Kaikoura has been a fun/cool small town and when the sun did finally show it was quite magnificent with the mountains in the background.  We are on our way to pick up Bob and have quite the adventure planned out for him.

It’s been a few months now that we’ve been living out of the van, and it’s not quite what we expected. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great experience, but are missing a few amenities that we’ve taken for granted.  First of all we try to find free overnight parking. There are places, but you have to find them, which can be challenging at times. Many of the camp/parking lots that we overnight at only have the usual drop toilet, so when we do go into an establishment with a facility it’s a treat ;-) We have a 30 L water jug that lasts us a few days, but when that gets low, it becomes a mission to find a place to fill it up. Many of the camping areas don’t have rubbish bins either. They have the “pack in-pack out” policy, so it’s difficult getting rid of our rubbish. When you combine all these tasks on a daily basis, it becomes quite comical; always looking for garbage bins, water faucets, rivers or lakes to bath in, nice restrooms, power outlets and free wifi. It’s never ending, but we are loving it and we enjoy the freedom of traveling. We have had a few laughs when we’ve talked to others going through the same experiences; we’re not the only crazies out here. 
If you would like to see more pictures click on the following links below:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115853505113135701754/MarlboroughSoundsAndGoldenBay

https://picasaweb.google.com/115853505113135701754/AbelTasmanNationalPark