26th Dec - Boxing Day - Greenstone/Steele Creek Walk

Up at 6 to get ready for the walk. Made some turkey sandwiches and ran out to met Christoph. There were lots of possibilities regarding what walk to do. I really fancied doing the Routeburn and back on the Caples as a circular walk but the Routeburn started at a different place to the end of the Caples and we would have to hitch that bit late at night or early in the morning and we were not sure that we would have time to do that.

We ended up parking at the Greenstone/Caples car park as we had not been successful hitching to the Routeburn. We decided to do the whole Greenstone/Caples route in a very long day. It is flat but a lovely walk through the valleys - about 60km to do the whole loop. We headed off at 10. The plan changed when we had made really good time to get to the Greenstone private hut for lunch time. There is a linking path called the Steel Creek Path that goes up and over a saddle from the Greenstone to the Caples. There was a warning sign saying that you needed to have a high level of fitness and back country walking skills to do it. The Greenstone had been a bit boring and flat so we thought we would give the other one a go.

It turned out to be an awesome path but extremely hard work. The first half was ok along the river but the terrain was difficult through the forest. We then had to cross a river - which Christoph managed to do with style and grace by jumping from rock to rock and I manged to do by slipping off and walking through up to my knees. It did not matter too much as the next half of the walk was very tough through the bush and we ended up walking in the stream for many miles (0.5m deap ish) as it was easier than climbing over the shrubbery. The path was very well marked with poles and was not unsafe but there was no actual path through the vegetation. The shrubbery was about 0.5m high and so each step involved climbing over the plants. The route also climbed to 1500m from about 500m. It took a long time to make our way through. When we reached the top of the saddle we were well above the tree line and there was some snow on the ground.

The wind on the other side of the saddle was very strong. We had not realised that we had been so protected from the wind on the other side of the valley. Fortunately the path hugs the side of the mountain and we just descended slowly. The views were amazing but again it was hard going through the vegetation in the wind and rain. I do love hill climbing - it makes me very happy. The signs had said it would take us 8-10 hours and we had done it in 6h30 but it had been hard work.

By the time we got on to the Caples track it was late. We could have carried on walking but it was raining heavily and we would have finished off walking with head torches to get back to the car park. There was a hut on the Caples path which was totally empty and so we decided to stay there instead. It worked out really well actually. The information in the hut said that there is a severe weather warning for the last 12 hours and continuing for 24 hours. The weather had been bad but not too bad for walking but we decided that maybe the worse had not yet arrived and so it would be safer to stay in hut. It was actually very cosy once Christoph had lit a fire.

25th Dec - Christmas Day in Arrowtown

Up at 7 with all of the noise from the children. It was so lovely to see them all getting really excited opening the presents. It was crazy with so much noise as they all opened them at once. I enjoyed just watching and taking photos.

Kath had very kindly got me a necklace for Christmas. I also had a couple of other parcels: parts for my pannier which had broken and bank cards from my sister. My passport had arrived with my visa for Nepal :-) One down many more to go......

It was a slow morning. The kids were very happy with all of their presents and enjoyed playing with them all. Me, James and Allan took the children for a walk to the play ground and climbing area around midday. The facilities are awesome! There are loads of different parts of an assault course and I had to have a go with the kids.

We had some ham and salad for lunch and then I went for a nap (as I have not had much sleep over the last few days). In the afternoon I went for a run up the hill at the back of the town. There are great views from the top. It was good to give my legs a stretch and I had a little smirk to myself as I ran past a couple of men trying to bike to the top on mountain bikes. On the top I took some videos to send to friends and family to say happy Christmas.

We had a great Christmas dinner and I ate and drank too much :-) It was lovely to sing some carols with the family and play some silly games. It was a perfect family Christmas day - but it did make me miss my family and friends very much. I stayed up late trying to call my family and catch up. It was great to speak to everyone.
I thoroughly enjoyed being the official photographer and was happy that I could repay the family in some small way for their generosity and making me feel so welcome.

24th Dec - Five Rivers to Arrow Town

Up at 8 and joined the family for breakfast. The 2 boys were very excited about Santa arriving tonight. They are very cute.

Angela gave me lots of contacts for their friends and family around NZ that I might be able to stay with. Awesome. It had stopped raining early in the morning and was sunny when I set off. The bike ride was again great and I was looking forward to getting to Arrowtown for Christmas.

As I was biking along I got a text from Shauna and Amanda (2 girls I met in Milford Sounds) asking where I was. I texted back and it turned out that they were only 5 mins behind me on the same road! Cool. I had just stopped off at the cafe in Kingston to use the loo. I waited a couple of mins for them and then we sat and chatted for a couple of hours over coffee and cake at the cafe. What perfect timing. I really enjoy their company. They invited me to join them for New Year up in the North of the South Island - which would be great if I manage to get there in time. It also turns out that they are in Kathmandu on exactly the same dates as I plan on being there - again amazing timing. I am now planning on meeting up with them then. They are from Toronto and have many friends there and so we will try to get them to meet up with my lovely friend Jacob (who is there is work at the moment) :-)
I went to the supermarket in Frankton to get some Christmas Presents for the family that I am staying with for Christmas and then biked to Arrowtown for about 5.30.

The Jenkins have a really lovely old converted cottage made of stone. It is actually one of the nicest houses I have seen in New Zealand. I do miss the oldness of buildings in Europe. The wooden bungalows of NZ seem very temporary in comparison and not as solid. It was really great to be in a family environment with a Christmas tree and decorations etc on Christmas Eve.
I spent some of the evening on the internet and sorting out my washing etc and having dinner with the family. I decided to go to the mid-night church service with a couple of others. I have not been to church in many years and do not like a lot of the Christian doctrine but I really enjoyed the service. It reminded me of being a child and going to church with my Grand parents and singing carols. It also reminded me of home. The service was in a great little, quaint church and the sermon had a strange colonial feel to it. I good way to see Christmas in.

23rd Dec - Te Anau to Five Rivers

We had a lazy morning and a big brunch of yesterday's left overs. We went for a wonder around the wildlife park (free) in Te Anau in order to see the dancing wood pidgin that Manuel had told us all so much about. Got and awesome video of the insane bird. Very funny.

By the time I had done some food shopping, put my bike back together and said good bye to everyone, it was 4 before I got on the road. It was good timing as it had been raining and gray all morning but then cleared up by the time I got on my bike. It was great to get back on the road in the sunshine. For most of the way I had a great tail wind and the road was reasonably flat but with mountains on either side.

About 8ish I turned to head north - right into a head wind and so the going was rather slower. I was traveling on a road which went through farm land and I could not see anywhere off the road to put up my tent and so at 9 I stopped off at a farm and asked if I could put my tent up in their field. A girl was baby sitting and said that she thought it would be fine with the owners. I put up my tent and was sitting and reading my book when the farmer (Jean) popped over and invited me in for a cuppa and some macaroni cheese. Jean and his wife (Angela) are lovely people and we chatted about loads of things till late. They said that they found it funny how tourists stop to take pictures of their cows and also the gorse bushes and the hay bails - at which point I showed them the pictures that I had taken this evening - of their cows, gorse and hay bails. It was funny.

I slept in the hunters hut instead of my tent - which was fab as it was dry and warm and the weather turned badly through the night. It was very good of them to put me up. A good nights sleep.

22nd Dec - Milford Sounds to Te Anau

A bit of a lie in to 8ish..... The weather is still horrendous! I am really glad not to be camping and biking in this.

The others headed off about 8.30 to go to Te Anau and see if they could get a refund for their cruise. I was surprised that the road was open and they could actually make it.

I met 3 other cyclists that are heading South. They were going to get off to Te Anau. I think that it is madness as it is so windy that it is unsafe. You could so easily be blown off the pass in the wind. I am very fortunate to be spending the day with Manuel and have a lift back to Te Anau after a cruise.

We spent the day in the lodge watching the horrendous weather outside and drinking tea and eating biscuits. I faffed with my photos and my diary and did some reading. Chatted with Shuna and Amanda and their friend Dorothy and had hot chocolate with baileys :-)
Me, Manuel, Shuna and Amanda all went on a cruise on Milford Sounds at 4.30. It was great as the weather was starting to turn and apart from the hail at the beginning of the cruise it was reasonably dry. Most of the cruises yesterday and this morning had been canceled and so we were lucky to get on this last cruise of the day. The views were amazing! There were literally hundreds of waterfalls. We saw seals on the side of the lake and dolphins jumping out next to the boat. The boat went right under a waterfall at one point and some crazy Korean guy stood outside under the falls with his shirt off! It was very funny.

The people on the tour said that there had been 3m of rain in 48 hours. Milford Sounds apparently gets 8m of rain each year. The rivers were over flowing and there were many landslides. The tour guides tried to persuade us that we we were seeing Milford Sounds at the best time when there is so much water. It really was amazing and a fantastic place to visit. The cruise is much cheaper to buy front the Lodge rather than the tourist information place ($45 rather than $70 for the same cruise). It was my little treat in NZ.

I really enjoyed Amanada's and Shuna's company and will probably meet up with them again in the next few weeks going up the West Coast.

After the cuise Manuel gave me and another German guy (Daniel) a lift to Te Anau. The journey should take about 1h30 but was kept on stopping to look at the view. Having me stuck inside all day with the bad weather we were all bit hyper (like little kids) and it ended up being a very funny couple of hours drive. We stopped to take jumping pictures and silly videos as we passed through the tunnel. We arrived into Te Anau at 9.30 - just as the shops were shutting and bought ingredients for a treat meal. We had all been eating instant noddles and bread for too many days and so we decided to have steak and veg and a couple of glasses of wine. We picked up Gijes (a dutch guy) on the way (another person that had been stuck at the Milford Lodge that Manuel knew). As there was no space at the hostels in town they crashed at Kylie's.
We had a great evening with lovely food, wine and company.

21st Dec -Lake Gunn to Milford Sounds

Did not get very much sleep last night. A major thunder storm arrived and it was very noisy and rained heavily. Fortunately I did not get too cold or wet and did manage to get some sleep. Manuel was sleeping in his car on the edge of the lake and over night the water level rose and at 6 he had to move the car as it as a foot into the water! A tree fell over in the forest where I was camping and woke me up early - a bit scary as could have landed on my tent. The wind was howling through the night. It was a lazy morning as everyone tried to sleep in as no one had managed to get much sleep through the morning. Manuel kindly offered to give me a lift to Milford Sounds and the weather is so bad it would be unsafe to bike in the wind etc.

I cooked everyone porridge and filter coffee in the dry car and we (David, Bernhard and Manuel) drove (in 2 cars) to Milford Sounds. The views on the way were amazing. There had been so much rain that the rivers where flooded. All of the mountains have waterfalls flowing off them - more waterfalls in such a small area than I knew was possible. I was thinking of doing a cruise instead of going hiking today but all of the day cruises had been canceled. We spent the afternoon in the cafe/pub in Milford Sounds and had hot soup and scones - very civilized when the weather is so bad outside.
I was not sure whether to try and hitch back to Te Anau to stay at Kylie's again or to stay in Milford Sounds at the Lodge in the dorm accommodation and then try and get on a cruise tomorrow when the weather is better. I tossed a coin and it said stay - so I did.

Me and Manuel checked into the Lodge for the night in the dorm rooms around 4 and had a very chilled afternoon/evening reading and writing my blog and chatting with new people. I had free pasta and cold beans for dinner. It is difficult to do when everyone else is in a car and had carried proper food here and was eating veg and meat :-( Oh well at least I am skinny at the moment.

The cruise was canceled and so David and Bernhard came back to the Lodge and stayed there with us. The road out of Milford Sounds was closed and no one from the lodge could leave
Early night as not much sleep last night. Very glad to be in the warmth and not camping tonight - even though it broke my principle of not to pay for accommodation in NZ!

It is strange to meet travelers rather than natives over the last week. I have not really stayed in back packers etc so I have not met very many other people actually traveling. I has been nice.
I was worried about Christoph doing the Milford Track in this weather....

20th Dec - Te Anau to Lake Gunn

My legs were surprising un-stiff this morning but by hip joints were a little sore.

Up late and packed up house. Went into Te Anau so that Christoph could pick up his tickets for the Milford Track Walk and I could take my bike to Andy the bike mechanic in town. I have a very annoying noise on my bike which I can't work out. Andy took the back part of the bike to pieces, cleaned everything and tightened it all up. Unfortunately it did not fix the noise and I still do not know what it is. After lunch of yesterdays left overs we left Te Anau and Christoph dropped me off just up the road so that he could catch his ferry for the Milford Trek (one of the most famous walks in the world - supposed to be the best of the Great Walks of NZ). The walk is 4 days long and he had booked to stay in all of the huts and get the ferry for $260. He was very lucky to get a place as only 40 people are allowed to set off each day (as there are only 40 places in the huts per night and camping is not allowed). I was a bit jealous but I cant afford it with my budget or time if I am to get to Arrow Town for Christmas.

We checked the forecast in the tourist information place and it is for heavy rain this afternoon and then terrible for the next few days! Shame. As it turned out the clouds cleared (it had been gray and raining all morning) as I got on my bike. I had a very slow ride to Lake Gunn from Te Anau. Based on normal times and distances I should have arrived at 5 but the views on the way were awesome and I kept on stopping and having a little wander off to take pictures and enjoy the time. The road is flat most of the way and the mountains and rivers flowing through were fab. There are fields of wild flowers all the way along. Everything looks great in the sun shine. I finally got to Lake Gunn to camp (the last spot on the way to Milford Sounds where camping is very cheap - $5). I will now have 45Km to do tomorrow to get to Milford Sounds - so my plan is to bike there and back again tomorrow and also do some hiking on one of the trails or a cruise on the lake.

There were awesome views sitting there eating beans and instant noodles. Once I had put up my tent I met Manuel (German), David (French) and Bernhard (Austria) on the beach. We had a fun evening chatting and trying to build a fire with the very wet wood. I was impressed that the boys managed it. They had some beer and some smokes. Lovely people. We were chatting till late. The others went off to sleep in their cars and me and Bernhard, who were camping next to each other, stayed up very late chatting until the thunderstorm that was supposed to arrive this afternoon finally arrived late!

19th Dec - Walk on the Kelper Trek

Up at 6.30 to get ready and on the start of the walk by 8.30. The weather was gray and raining first thing and the route through the trees along the lake was erie. I chatted with Christoph for a while and then we both put on audio books and went off into our own worlds. The walk goes for 8km flat along the beach of the lake and then up through the forest climbing for about 15km. After the tree line there is then a 6km walk to the first hut. It was supposed to take 5-6 hours to get to the first hut but we did it in 3.5. We were doing a good pace. We met a Israeli chap on the way who walked with us for a bit. Had lunch at the first hut. There was no view at all and all of the mountains where covered in cloud.

We took the 10 min detour to go and look in the caves at the back of the first hut. The Israeli chap had a torch and came with us. It was very cold down there and interesting to see.

We then went on up to the top of Mt luxmore - another 7km up (1500m). We were up there by about 1. Fortunately the clouds cleared and we had a great view from the top. I think I feel most happy when I am on the top of a mountain having hiked or biked up :-)

The weather cleared more on the way down and we ended up having some good views over the lake and mountains. The route through the forest in the sunshine felt different to this morning but felt much longer than the way up because we had already done it. I much prefer circular walks where there is something different happening all the way round. I actually got a bit bored of walking by mid afternoon. We had done the hard walk up, got to the top and the walk back to the car was dull and I wanted to just be back at the house chilling. However, it was a great walk - one of the famous Great Walks of NZ in fact. The route should take 4 days to do the whole thing - stopping at each hut for 1 night - a total of 60km. We ended up doing about 42km in one day!
I went for a swim in the lake at the end of the walk - just as the weather turned again and we walked back to the car park in the rain.

We managed to eat 3 peanut butter and jam sandwiches each :-)

Popped to town for a bottle of wine and then back to the house for a very relaxed evening. So great to have house, cookies and tea and warm shower to go back to at the end of a long walk. My legs feel very nicely exercised today. Great evening watching a film on Christoph's laptop.
An awesome day - shame the weather was not a bit better as we did not see the best of the views.

18th Dec - Bluff to Te Anau

It is the anniversary of my Gran's death today and so I am thinking about her and my granddad a lot. I miss her!

Woke up at 6.30 with the light and tried to get back to sleep but did not manage it even though I am a bit tired. Christoph slept till about 9. We went for a swim in the sea first thing in the morning and had another cooked breakfast of porridge and coffee. Drove to Invercargill and planned our afternoon walk and did some food shopping for the next few days. As we will have a kitchen we decided to get some sensible grown up food other than instant noodles :-)

Again it was gray and miserable all morning with rain showers. By the afternoon it had all cleared up and we had a great view of the mountains as we drove from Tuatapere to Manpouri. We took the little ferry across the river and did the circular walk through the forest and up the hill. It was 13.5 km and we did it easily in 3 hours.
Today was the first time that I really saw some of the sights that I came to NZ for! Sunshine, forests, mountains and lakes. Happy me :-) I really want to go and do a good hike tomorrow now - up high. The forests are all deciduous and un touched. There is a very different feel to the mountains and forests in NZ verses Europe.

We got to the house about 7.30 (we had popped to the shops to get some peanut butter and jam for sandwiches for tomorrow). It was fab to have a house to go to. It was strange to have a house to ourselves without anyone else in. It felt like our house for 2 days - a real base with a shower, running water, beds, a lounge and a kitchen. It is strange when you are traveling how much you appreciate the small things in life. I have been either camping, hosteling or staying in someone else's house for the last 3 month. I think that when ever you are staying in someone else's house you are always aware of invading their space and slightly on edge and do not completely relax. Having a house for free with out anyone else there was brilliant. It was extremely good of Kylie to lend it to us. We cooked a meal with prawns, veg, rice and a sweet chilli sauce - and chilled. :-)

17th Dec - Papatowai to Invercargill

Woke up early to find Christoph already up reading his book having gone skinny dipping in the river to wake up! Germans :-)

We had breakfast of porridge and banana and packed up and then set off in the car together. It is a lovely thing about traveling that you can just met someone one day and then the next head off with them and just see what happens. As it turned out Christoph was great company and we got on very well.

We stopped off for a short walk to a water fall in the forests and the to a lake. We then took the walk to the most southern tip of the NZ South Island and to another bay where there are often Sea Lions (no luck for us today). It was gray for most of the morning but cleared up by the time we got to the light house on the beach and went for a great 10km run along the sands and then a swim in the sea.

Drove to Invercargill for 4.30 so that Christoph could get his tax sorted for the car and we could have a look round town. Invercargill is very unexciting as a town. I am not that enamored with NZ towns and architecture. We went to the McCafe to use the free internet and get a coffee and muffin for a treat.

I phoned Kerry (Patrick's cousin) about accommodation in Te Anau. She said it would be fine to stay there for a couple of nights and arrive earlier than originally planned. Perfect! It means that I can go hiking ("tramping as they call it in NZ) with Christoph for the next couple of days rather than biking for 2 days from Invercargill to Te Anau. I really want to do some of the NZ great walks while I am here and as I want to get to Milford Sounds and back to Arrow Town for Christmas, I would not have managed many days walking if I had not been traveling with Christoph. We decided to go to Te Anau tomorrow and do a walk on the way :-)

We drove from Invercargill to Bluff and stopped to take photos of the sunset on the way. It is great traveling with someone else that is also really into photography and is also on a very tight budget. The views from the hill in Bluff were great. We could not camp there and so once the sun had gone down we drove along the coast to were we thought we might be able to stop. We drove for what seemed like ages in the dark down an unsealed road. We were just about to give up (as there were only farm houses) when we came to the end of the road and there was a perfect patch of grass over looking the beach.

It was late by the time I got my tent up. We sat and ate beans and instant noodles at 10.45 listening to the waves.... traveling is so much fun. Good day.