2016_03_21 STEAMSHIP TO SHEEP STATION

Taking TSS Earnslaw steam ship to a sheep station (farm) this morning.  More later.

Boarded the steamship for a 1 hour cruise to the Walter Peak High Country sheep farm.  Some jobs never change.  2 poor guys were down in the bowels of the ship shoveling coal into the fire!  Just like on Flash Gordon back in the day.

Saw a sheep shearing demonstration and then the handler put his 3 year old sheep dog thru it's paces  herding 4 sheep.  Pretty cool.  She ran way up a steep hill and brought them back to a corral right in front of us.

Afterwards a delicious bbq lunch that was way better than I expected.  Chicken, beef, pork with a bunch of excellent sides and desserts! 

Back on the steamship for the return trip to Queenstown.  Quite a few are out for a bit of shopping as we have free time (amazingly) before our dinner tonight.

Can only access internet in Richie's room.  They came back from shopping so I was in their hallway to get the blog updated!

Taking the gondola way up high to watch the sunset and eat another more fish centric meal at The Stratosphere Restaurant at 8:30.

This day was awesome and will only get better!

The base of the gondola.  Up above is the Stratosphere Restaurant.

Two views from up top.

Frodo with the one ring - made of Jelly Bellys

Close up of the one ring.

Harvey with his ring.  Couldn't resist.....

Closeup of the other ring!

The diner was spectacular!  Another wonderful buffet with a wide variety of meats, sides and don't forget the desserts.  I tried venison steak for the first time and it was delicious.  Connie says it's so good because of all the domesticated deer farms.  Not wild shot venison.  Their diet is regulated.  In any case delicious.

Rode down on the gondola to great night time views and packing up one more time.

Rich and I are heading to the airport early tomorrow (7:45) to pick up our rental vehicles for the trip to Dunedin.  Rich will drive the van and I will drive the Toyota hatch back.  Paul and Laraine will drive with us in the car to free up room in the van.  At least that's the plan right now.

Hopefully we can get back to Queenstown in one piece and load up both vehicles around 9:00 and off we'll be.

2016_03_20 TROMP DAY THREE

Day three was "only" a 3-4 hour walk out to the carpark at the end of the  Routeburn Track. 

Short story.  Best day of the three by far.  Short hike, not much rain, got to trailhead in 4 hours (3 3/4).  Bussed to Queenstown where we checked in again at Waterfront Apartments and did a bunch of laundry.

Richie Steingart and I walked back to the Routeburn Falls before breakfast for some images and video.  The falls were raging - highest the guides said they ever saw!  Well worth the short walk.

Reached the valley and saw this!

Started off going down on slippery rocks gor the first hour.  Reached the valley floor where we walked past MANY waterfalls.  Some we kind of walked through.  The walk for the last 3 hours was mostly flat and pretty easy.  So, pretty flat, pretty dry - a good day's walk.


Arrived at trail end after 3 3/4 hours and ate our packed lunch.  Boarded the bus and we drove to a pub in a small town named Glenorchy.  After beverages we each received a folder with a group picture and a certificate saying we had done the trek.  All 38 in the group were called up one at a time to high fives from the guides.

Finally returned to Queenstown where we recovered our luggage back at The Waterfront Apartments.  Did a LOT of laundry for the group of 12!

Connie and I got some Vietnamese carry out and stayed to manage the laundry - many loads to the basement dryer as the dryer in our apartment was still broken.  The others returned from their dinners and helped to sort the laundry out!

Finally off to bed.

Supposed to be 75 tomorrow!

I'll take it!

2016_03_19 TROMP DAY TWO

If anything worse that yesterday.  Actually the scenery was better but there was a driving rain all day long with 60 mph gusts up on the ridge line.  Rain blowing sideways and they kept us in small groups so that we could be watched over.  Literally we had to kind of squat down to settle into the gusts to stay upright.  The really scary parts were only for about a half hour abd it was a bit dicey.

This day we walked for 8 hours and 6 minutes before we finally got to the Routeburn Falls Lodge.

Lake Mackenzie from above early in our long wet day

The only "good" thing was the massive waterfalls all along the way.  We actually walked downhill IN small waterfall streams for about the last hour to the lodge.  We had been trying to stay dry but finally just sloshed right through the streams.  Every part of our bodies were soaked!  Right thru my "waterproof" jacket and pants and shoes and socks were squishing!  

The waterfalls all around us were simply breathtaking.  The guides said they had never seen the Routeburn Falls so raging.

2016_03_18 ROUTEBURN TROMP DAY 1

Today we start the 3 day Routeburn Tramp, the highlight of the vacation!

Everyone has been looking forward to this as well a being a bit concerned with the backpack weights!

I got up pretty early (5:30) to try and enter my NCAA pool picks but it was after 11:00am back home in the US so Connie and I won't be in this year.  Strange but the entire tournament will be over before we return.  Won't see one game.....

We should have had a little extra time to rest this morning but for my obsession with the blog!  The majority of the trampers will start out in Queenstown around 7:00 or so and be bused to Te Anu where we already are.  They should get here around 9:00 where they can have a tea/coffee break at the trekking office.  Scones are also provided.  We decided to skip a big breakfast for the yogurt and fruit we bought yesterday and have a scone when the bus arrives.

After an hour's ride we will get to the Routeburn Track trailhead and start our 3 day tromp.

No WIFI so this will be the last post until we get back to The Waterfront Apartments in Queenstown after the tramp ends.

I also have not been able to post any images from my iPad.  Left the other computer in storage because of the weight.  We have to carry everything for the three days in our backpacks so we have tried to pare down to the essentials. We are actually sending a few dirty clothes back with one couple who are not doing the tromp.  Paul and Ann Jacobs are taking a duffel back eith them with a few  things from the other trompers.

I have lots of images and will add some to the blog when I can.

Thst's it for a while.  Looking forward to the tramp!

Positively optimistic outlook drowned out by constant rain!

From the second we started to the end it was RAIN.

Walked for 6 hours and 24 minutes and eventially reached Lake Mackenzie and Lake Mackenzie Lodge.  That was the only good thing  about the day!

Below are images of all of us at the the Routeburn Trail trailhead!

Harvey Johnson, Connie Ellis

Laraine Shore-Suslowitz, Bobi and Richie Steingart

Gayle and Rich Rediker

Laraine and Paul Shore-Suslowitz

Mardy and Peter Shapland

Connie and I at the base of a 173 meter high waterfall

FINALLY reached Lake Mackenzie Lodge.  We were so glad!
The BEST part of the whole day!

2016_03_16 Doubtful Sound/Te Anu

Slept with Paul and Ann Jacobs in a shared room last night.  2 double bunk beds each.  Not much room above my top bunk.  We were told that the boat would start moving at 6:00 but we would not have to be up until 7:30 for breakfast.  Good thing as I got up when the boat did but went back to sleep until exactly 7:30!  Went down for a bit of the scrambled eggs with lobster from last night.  Josh made a bunch of sausage and bacon to go with it.  All really good but I wasn't too hungry.  Took turns stripping down the beds as it was crowded in the room.  Decided to let the Jacobs do their thing first and then Connie and I went in to change, etc.

Here's our shared room bunk beds.

The group on the back of the boat on Doubtful Sound

Gorgeous scenery

Back to get on the bus at the end of Doubtful Sound.  All the boats docked here, coming and going.

By the time we got downstairs the boat had already traveled over to Crooked Arm Cove and was heading back to the main Doubtful Sound channel.  We took a bunch of pictures of the sunrise and the Sound as we headed back to the western end of Doubtful Sound.  We departed the boat for good around 10:30 and did the reverse bus ride back over the Wilmot Pass to the Manapouri Power Station.  One more ferry boat ride back to Manapouri and we were ready to be transported to Te Anu.
Our friend Denis was there again and he gave us a tour of Te Anu before dropping us off the The Anchorage Motor Hotel.  This place reminded Connie and I of many places we stayed in the last time we were in New Zealand!  We checked in a got to our room.  Internet functioned and I attempted to catch up a bit on the blog.

Walked around Te Anu and Connie and I had a couple of pies at a local shop.  There are pie shops everywhere in New Zealand, serving up something like a smaller version of a pot pie.  Easily picked up and delicious.  We had a Thai and a Satay version and they were quite tasty!  

We also went to a supermarket to get some yougurt, meuseli and a couple of bananas for breakfast tomorrow before the tromp.  It eas there that we realized how expensive the lobsters Josh got for us fresh from the sound were.  A 2 kilo lobster was about $200 NZ.  That's around $140 US!  Each of us had 1/2 of a 2 kilo lobster.  Their boat is becoming famous because of Josh's ability to scuba for the lobsters.  I guess so!  The blue cod that Richie Steingart caught was also really expensive prepared.  At dinner a blue cod plate was about $25 and his fish gave all 12 of us a plate.  

After we cleaned up a bit we walked over to Lake Te Anu and took a 30 minute ferry ride to the Te Anu Glow worm cave.  Pretty amazing cave that is still being shaped by a raging underground river.  We got to see a whole bunch of glow worms with their firefly like lights.  The glow worms spin out "lines" of sticky stuff which capture insects drawn to them by the lights in the worm's butt!  Once we were pretty far up into the cave we went in a small boat that was pulled along from a line overhead by our guide.  The channel was very narrow there and in total darkness we saw probably millions of the glowing lights.  Much larger of an operation that Connie and I saw on the North Island before.  Sadly, no photos allowed.  

Returned to Te Anu and walked to dinner at The Kepler Family Restaurant.  Lots of Keplers around Te Anu going way back to when the first white settlers came to New Zealand.  There is Kepler this and Kepler that including this restaurant.  The meal was pretty slow but quite tasty.  Connie and I each had a soup and shared a seafood casserole.  I think everyone liked their dinners.

Time for a good night's sleep in a real bed to prepare for tomorrow's start of the tromp.

2016_03_16 DOUBTFUL SOUND

Early this morning (7:00) we went outside The Waterfront Apartments and found a small bus with a trailer for out backpacks.  The driver Danis, informend us the we would have a two hour(ish) drive to the start of out overnight boat trip on Doubtful Sound.  If anyone needed a bathroom break we should just let him know.  After about an hour we took advantage of a short break to get rid of the beverages we had drunk so far.  We stopped in a little town called Garson population 109 and allegedly the most inland village.  

A bit later we arrived at Lake Manapouri at the visitors center where we met up with our tour group leader Mandy.  We took a 50 minute ride on a ferry to the Manapouri Power Station where we took a bus ride with Chris over the Wilmot Pass road to (finally) Doubtful Sound.  The Wilmot road cost $80 per square meter to build.  Very expensive but described a money well spent.

 High above the Doubtful Sound at Wilmot Pass

Boarded the Tutoko II and met our pilot (Sean) and first mate Josh.  Pretty cool dudes to say the least - Josh especially.  More later.

We found our berths, stowed the backpacks and set sail.  Amazing scenery, simply amazing.  I thought I was in a Lord of the Rings movie!  

Closeup of kayaks and life ring on Tutoko II.

Dolphins in a bay

Heading back to Doubtful Sound from The Tasman Sea

Some sea lions on the Nee Islands

We went all the way to the end of Doubtful Sound and entered the Tasman Sea.  It's actually the Pacific Ocean but the entire west coast of the South Island is the Tasman Sea.  Since the seas were so calm we got to go past the Shelter Islands and finally even further out the Nee Islands.  These outlying islands help to keep the rough ocean waves from pounding Doubtful Sound.  There was a colony of Sea Lions on the Nee Islands and we got real close to them.  

Turned around and headed back up the Sound to a place where Josh went scuba diving for lobsters and we were fishing for dinner.  Josh brought enough lobsters that each of us had 1/2 a lobster each.   Richie Steingart caught a really big Blue Cod and it too fed the group for dinner.  

Josh scuba dove and got us a bunch of lobsters!

Our pilot Sean at the helm

Kayakers heading out in Precipice Cove.

We then went to Precipice Cove where a few went kayaking.  We were later joined by 2 huge yachts also came into Precipice Cove - one had TWO helicopters on it!

Around the dinner table

Josh is a trained chef and at one point was on a New Zealand food show.  Needless to say the meals were quite delicious!  He is really a pastry chef and he whipped up a angel food cake with merangue frosting.  Really good. 

After a great dinner we went to sleep for the night.

2016_03_15 QUEENSTOWN

We arrived in Queenstown this afternoon about 30 minutes early and got to The Waterfront Apartment in time to check in before the Trek briefing.  Dropped off our bags in our rooms and walked over to The Station where our trek company Ultimate Hikes of New Zealand gave us the poop about the trek.

I decided to use their 40 liter backpack (a real nice one) instead of the one I brought with us.  Mine was only 30 liter and theirs a bit better pack as well.

We are ready to walk down the street to My Thai Restaurant for dinner in a few.  Rich Rediker is back in his comfort zone food wise.

Dinner was pretty great!  We have been trying to do some laundry in the apartment starting this afternoon. The dryer in our unit doesn't work so we have been trying the one in the next apartment.  So far we almost have 2 loads done.  Our communal dark load should be done in about 15 minutes or so.

Backpacks are almost fully ready for tomorrow as well as the suitcases we will be leaving in storage until we return here in five days.

Tomorrow morning we will be transported to Doubtful Sound where we will start our overnight cruise on a private boat.  Upon return from the short cruise we stay one night in Te Anu.  The next three days we will be walking the Routeburn Track staying at lodges each night.  It might be rainy on day two.  Hoping for the best.

View from The Waterfront Apartment balcony

We're up on the top floor!