Click on Pic for some more updated photos
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
"Jumping" Back into it!
Hey Folks!
We are back after a long break from blogging. Well...where to start. Since we last left you a lot has happened. Sarah changed her look (notice the piercing in her nose)! I jumped out of a plane from 12, 000 ft over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (Over Isengard for you LOTR fans) and we left the lush green country of New Zealand for the Hot Continent of Australia.
I would have to say jumping out of a plane is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I can't describe how amazing it felt, I was ear to ear grinning and was on a high for about 3 days after. All I can say is: DO IT! Sar and I were also blessed with beautiful weather when we got back to Queenstown, and it is very clear why this is so many travellers favorite city in New Zealand. One of the mountain ranges that surrounds the city is called the Remarkables, and for good reason, they are stunning! It was extremely hard to leave Queenstown when the time came.
We continued our journey up the east coast of the South Island through Christchurch en route to Kaikora. Kaikora was up there for Sar and I as our favorite destination. The sun was shinning, the water was a magnificent blue and there was still snow on the tops of the mountains. From the water we heard numerous times that it is supposed to be the best view in the world. Very hard to beat with the ocean and mountains so close to each other. All along the coast of Kaikora is an extremely deep gorge, which drops off very close to shore. This makes ideal conditions for all sorts of sea life: whales, seals, sharks, fish and of course dolphins! Now, the dolphin pods here are know to get up in the hundreds. The type of dolphin found around Kaikora are the extremely acrobatic and playful Dusky Dolphins.
If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably already know that we went swimming with them. Again, we really lucked out, the water was calm, the sun was shinning and the dolphins were playful, despite loosing a few friends a few days before to become Killer Whale food. It was amazing! The more you interacted with the dolphins the more they played with you. It was hilarious because they also react to the noise you make so everyone in the water was doing their best dolphin calls. It was such an amazing experience.
While Sar went on one of the nicest hikes she did all trip (Dang), I went fishing. We caught a ton of sea perch and I caught only one of two blue cod caught that day! We also pulled up some cray pots to catch some NZ rock lobster...I wasn't so lucky with this. I pulled up the first one, and inside was a giant Conger Eel which had a delicious lunch of crayfish...I helped with the second one and this time a giant octopus was on the cage, he too had a nice lunch. So, with one cray pot left we left it in the hands of these two japanese girls (girls are always better fisher"men"), and JACKPOT! There were about 25 rock lobsters in this one! And we finally got our tasty lunch! We cooked up a monster feast of lobster and fish that night with a couple of other buddies who went fishing...3 monster lobsters and about 8 pounds of fish between 5 of us!
Unfortunately we had to leave the South Island to make sure we had enough time for the far north. We were supposed to do the Tongarriro Crossing on the way up but due to a forgetful driver (he left Taupo without us in the morning) we missed it...I havn't been that mad in a very long time. As a consilation, Sar and I went to a hot river to try and cool off...it kinda helped except for the fact it was the nicest weather of the whole trip!
At least we had tons of time to do the Bay of Islands up north. We stayed in Paihia for about 5 days...the first 3 all being rainy and miserable...dang. By chance these two girls in our hostel asked if we wanted to tramp out to Cape Brett. We caught a 45 min water taxi to a bay about a 2.5 hr hike away from the hut on the point of the Cape. It was pouring rain the whole time and we were essentially hiking in clouds. We had to jump over streams that had turned into small rivers, hike on narrow trails with sheer cliffs on either side with VERY strong gusts of wind and up and down massive ridges...WOW...It was by far the hardest (and scariest) hike we have done. But it was all worth it. When we got to the hut it was really cool. It used to be lived in by the assistant lighthouse keeper. The sun came out that evening and I made some hooks and a makeshift reel and tried some fishing...the only thing I caught was a huge wave in my shoes! The next day was so much nicer, we could actually see the Bay of Islands in all its glory! It was amazing that we couldn't see all of the islands the day before because of the rain and fog. That hike was REALLY hard!
Kiwis have to be some of the most friendly people in the world. We finished our hike about 2.5 hrs before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up. We went looking for something that might have a phone, instead we got picked up by a school bus and used the drivers cell phone as he drove us halfway there, and then a couple of guys picked us up off the side of the road and insisted on giving us a ride into town (we weren't even hitchhiking!). Amazing!
After the hard days of hiking we took the easy route up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. We took this cool, jacked up 4X4 dune rider. Cape Reinga is believed to be where the Moari people depart the land of the living through the roots of a Kauri tree located on the last peice of land. It is a very spiritual place for them. The tree itself is cool because it is the only tree growing on that part of land. The day also included some sand boarding and a drive down 90 mile beach (which is more like 90km beach!).
Our last day in New Zealand was spent on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland. It is well know for its Wineries and beaches. We did a tasting at probably one of the most scenic wineries around, Cable Bay. It was just beautiful and the wine was tasty.
Now we are in Perth desperately looking for a place to live. We are fortunate that some friends are letting us crash until we find a spot. Sar started work yesterday and really likes the clinic and the area she is working at. I am just on house hunting detail. No fun for us until we have a roof over our heads! That's it for now. We will try to be a bit better at blogging!
Miss you all,
SarahandRoo
P.S. Mom they call trucks and stuff a Ute, so your name is all over the billboards...you're famous!
We are back after a long break from blogging. Well...where to start. Since we last left you a lot has happened. Sarah changed her look (notice the piercing in her nose)! I jumped out of a plane from 12, 000 ft over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (Over Isengard for you LOTR fans) and we left the lush green country of New Zealand for the Hot Continent of Australia.
I would have to say jumping out of a plane is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I can't describe how amazing it felt, I was ear to ear grinning and was on a high for about 3 days after. All I can say is: DO IT! Sar and I were also blessed with beautiful weather when we got back to Queenstown, and it is very clear why this is so many travellers favorite city in New Zealand. One of the mountain ranges that surrounds the city is called the Remarkables, and for good reason, they are stunning! It was extremely hard to leave Queenstown when the time came.
We continued our journey up the east coast of the South Island through Christchurch en route to Kaikora. Kaikora was up there for Sar and I as our favorite destination. The sun was shinning, the water was a magnificent blue and there was still snow on the tops of the mountains. From the water we heard numerous times that it is supposed to be the best view in the world. Very hard to beat with the ocean and mountains so close to each other. All along the coast of Kaikora is an extremely deep gorge, which drops off very close to shore. This makes ideal conditions for all sorts of sea life: whales, seals, sharks, fish and of course dolphins! Now, the dolphin pods here are know to get up in the hundreds. The type of dolphin found around Kaikora are the extremely acrobatic and playful Dusky Dolphins.
If you've been looking at the pictures then you probably already know that we went swimming with them. Again, we really lucked out, the water was calm, the sun was shinning and the dolphins were playful, despite loosing a few friends a few days before to become Killer Whale food. It was amazing! The more you interacted with the dolphins the more they played with you. It was hilarious because they also react to the noise you make so everyone in the water was doing their best dolphin calls. It was such an amazing experience.
While Sar went on one of the nicest hikes she did all trip (Dang), I went fishing. We caught a ton of sea perch and I caught only one of two blue cod caught that day! We also pulled up some cray pots to catch some NZ rock lobster...I wasn't so lucky with this. I pulled up the first one, and inside was a giant Conger Eel which had a delicious lunch of crayfish...I helped with the second one and this time a giant octopus was on the cage, he too had a nice lunch. So, with one cray pot left we left it in the hands of these two japanese girls (girls are always better fisher"men"), and JACKPOT! There were about 25 rock lobsters in this one! And we finally got our tasty lunch! We cooked up a monster feast of lobster and fish that night with a couple of other buddies who went fishing...3 monster lobsters and about 8 pounds of fish between 5 of us!
Unfortunately we had to leave the South Island to make sure we had enough time for the far north. We were supposed to do the Tongarriro Crossing on the way up but due to a forgetful driver (he left Taupo without us in the morning) we missed it...I havn't been that mad in a very long time. As a consilation, Sar and I went to a hot river to try and cool off...it kinda helped except for the fact it was the nicest weather of the whole trip!
At least we had tons of time to do the Bay of Islands up north. We stayed in Paihia for about 5 days...the first 3 all being rainy and miserable...dang. By chance these two girls in our hostel asked if we wanted to tramp out to Cape Brett. We caught a 45 min water taxi to a bay about a 2.5 hr hike away from the hut on the point of the Cape. It was pouring rain the whole time and we were essentially hiking in clouds. We had to jump over streams that had turned into small rivers, hike on narrow trails with sheer cliffs on either side with VERY strong gusts of wind and up and down massive ridges...WOW...It was by far the hardest (and scariest) hike we have done. But it was all worth it. When we got to the hut it was really cool. It used to be lived in by the assistant lighthouse keeper. The sun came out that evening and I made some hooks and a makeshift reel and tried some fishing...the only thing I caught was a huge wave in my shoes! The next day was so much nicer, we could actually see the Bay of Islands in all its glory! It was amazing that we couldn't see all of the islands the day before because of the rain and fog. That hike was REALLY hard!
Kiwis have to be some of the most friendly people in the world. We finished our hike about 2.5 hrs before our shuttle was supposed to pick us up. We went looking for something that might have a phone, instead we got picked up by a school bus and used the drivers cell phone as he drove us halfway there, and then a couple of guys picked us up off the side of the road and insisted on giving us a ride into town (we weren't even hitchhiking!). Amazing!
After the hard days of hiking we took the easy route up to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. We took this cool, jacked up 4X4 dune rider. Cape Reinga is believed to be where the Moari people depart the land of the living through the roots of a Kauri tree located on the last peice of land. It is a very spiritual place for them. The tree itself is cool because it is the only tree growing on that part of land. The day also included some sand boarding and a drive down 90 mile beach (which is more like 90km beach!).
Our last day in New Zealand was spent on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland. It is well know for its Wineries and beaches. We did a tasting at probably one of the most scenic wineries around, Cable Bay. It was just beautiful and the wine was tasty.
Now we are in Perth desperately looking for a place to live. We are fortunate that some friends are letting us crash until we find a spot. Sar started work yesterday and really likes the clinic and the area she is working at. I am just on house hunting detail. No fun for us until we have a roof over our heads! That's it for now. We will try to be a bit better at blogging!
Miss you all,
SarahandRoo
P.S. Mom they call trucks and stuff a Ute, so your name is all over the billboards...you're famous!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Whale of a good time
Hey Everyone! We have done so much and have so much to tell you all about our adventures since last time...but we are going to leave you in suspense! There are some new pictures up on the flickr account so just click the link on the previous post...talk to you soon.
Love
SarahandRoo
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sheep Shearing Fun
Hey Everyone,
Sar and I are stuck in Invercargill at the moment due to some good Southland weather (Rainy and VERY windy). Well, we havn't done too much since our last post so this will be a quickie. We spent the past 5 days in Te Anau: the gateway to Milford Sound. Our first day out of Queenstown to Milford took an unexpected twist because the earthquake had caused some landslides and this closed the road to Milford Sound for a number of days. We made the most of one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far exploring the world famous road to Milford. The highlight being a great hike up Key Summit, which is the first day of the Routeburn hike. The views of the snowcovered peaks are not done justice by the photos. It turned out to be a great day!
We went for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound the following evening. It was so cool. The road up is amazing. We got our taste for winter with the snowcovered ground and massive mountains. The coolest part was going through the Homer tunnel...a man made tunnel through the mountains with only enough room for one coach at most points (our driver had to reverse halfway back up the tunnel). When we got to the other side of the tunnel it was amazing to see how dramatic the mountains are. They are so much steeper then any I have seen before. It was even more evident when we reached the Fiord where they meet the ocean. Once we arrived we had a few minutes before we boarded our boat for the next part of our journey. We cruised out to the Tasman sea, I jumped into a Kayak and Sar jumped into the speed boat and we explored the Fiord. I got soaked and Sar saw a Penguin (who got the better deal??). We had a whole meal of food and it was delicious. We woke up in the morning to a great surprise! Milford came alive with the rain. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life...one about every 10 feet. Again the road was closed so we got trapped on the boat for a few more hours (and a free lunch). Unfortunately our bus thought we were stuck for the day and left without us...leaving us trapped in Te Anau for 3 more days...oh well!
Today we did a farm tour in Tuatapere, we got to feed little lambs and shear some ewes. Sar got to drive the quad bike with everyone else in the trailer (Dave you would've be proud!). Sar was amazed at how much wool comes off of a sheep (they look really skinny without all the wool). I had the pleasure of shearing the worst sheep the farmer had ever had! I had to put it in a headlock while shearing it. After all our hard work we were treated to some local sausages for breakfast, Tuatapere is the self proclaimed sausage capital of New Zealand (Mr. Nicoletta, not as good as yours!).
Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Stewart Island today because the seas were way too rough...which means we have to come back to NZ again some day!
Miss you all,
Love,
Sarahandroo
p.s. More pictures on the link!
Sar and I are stuck in Invercargill at the moment due to some good Southland weather (Rainy and VERY windy). Well, we havn't done too much since our last post so this will be a quickie. We spent the past 5 days in Te Anau: the gateway to Milford Sound. Our first day out of Queenstown to Milford took an unexpected twist because the earthquake had caused some landslides and this closed the road to Milford Sound for a number of days. We made the most of one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far exploring the world famous road to Milford. The highlight being a great hike up Key Summit, which is the first day of the Routeburn hike. The views of the snowcovered peaks are not done justice by the photos. It turned out to be a great day!
We went for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound the following evening. It was so cool. The road up is amazing. We got our taste for winter with the snowcovered ground and massive mountains. The coolest part was going through the Homer tunnel...a man made tunnel through the mountains with only enough room for one coach at most points (our driver had to reverse halfway back up the tunnel). When we got to the other side of the tunnel it was amazing to see how dramatic the mountains are. They are so much steeper then any I have seen before. It was even more evident when we reached the Fiord where they meet the ocean. Once we arrived we had a few minutes before we boarded our boat for the next part of our journey. We cruised out to the Tasman sea, I jumped into a Kayak and Sar jumped into the speed boat and we explored the Fiord. I got soaked and Sar saw a Penguin (who got the better deal??). We had a whole meal of food and it was delicious. We woke up in the morning to a great surprise! Milford came alive with the rain. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life...one about every 10 feet. Again the road was closed so we got trapped on the boat for a few more hours (and a free lunch). Unfortunately our bus thought we were stuck for the day and left without us...leaving us trapped in Te Anau for 3 more days...oh well!
Today we did a farm tour in Tuatapere, we got to feed little lambs and shear some ewes. Sar got to drive the quad bike with everyone else in the trailer (Dave you would've be proud!). Sar was amazed at how much wool comes off of a sheep (they look really skinny without all the wool). I had the pleasure of shearing the worst sheep the farmer had ever had! I had to put it in a headlock while shearing it. After all our hard work we were treated to some local sausages for breakfast, Tuatapere is the self proclaimed sausage capital of New Zealand (Mr. Nicoletta, not as good as yours!).
Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Stewart Island today because the seas were way too rough...which means we have to come back to NZ again some day!
Miss you all,
Love,
Sarahandroo
p.s. More pictures on the link!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Bone Shaking Quakes!
Alrighty folks
YES WE HAVE SOME PICTURES!! Yahoo! What a disaster that was trying to get some pictures up...I have gained a lot more gray hair from getting that sorted out (look closely at my moustache and it is quite evident!)
So we last left you off in Punakaiki...What a beautiful spot. From there we headed to the booming city of Barrytown (aka Baz Vegas) poplulation 4. Sar and I did some bone carving in the morning, again it is surprising what you can make with a little expert guidance. Again, Sar topped the class with a sweet as bone carved necklace! I didn't do too shabby, but mine smells like burning...so I can't wear it right now. That night we kicked our shoes off, and pants and shirts for a fancy dress party (costume party). My costume of a Scottish school girl made me look more like William Wallace! Our bus driver's nickname is Gullom and he showed us why...he came out of nowhere with the most amazing Gollum costume of all time: weird hair strands, silver thong, black unitard (and hideous man body according to Sar) and glued on ears so he couldn't hear a thing! The night was a blast and we partied a bit later than usual.
Next morning we hopped on the bus to the scenic town of Franz Josef. It is nestled in the mountains and the views are spectacular. We opted to take the challenge of a full day hike up the Franz Josef glacier the next morning...Very cool (literally.) We were so lucky to have a sunny day for this one as it is supposed to rain about 99.9% of the time there. We had a guide take us up and carve steps in the ice as we went along. Now a bit of science: Franz Josef glacier actually sits down in a rain forest which makes it unique. It is also still growing at a considerable rate because of the 30m of snow the mountain gets each year! All this makes for a steep climb up! All in all Franz was Granz!
Next Stop Makarora. Sar and I went for an adrenalin filled helicopter flight around Mt Aspiring National Park. As a special treat we got to see the newest lake in the area created by a landslide...this lake if it bursts has the potential to put the whole town under water...Dang! The best part of the ride was when we dropped off one passenger to take a jet boat ride. It felt like right out of the movies, the jet boat was going up the river and we went up and sharply banked down right over top of them. One of the guys on the boat said he was expecting the machine guns to start firing at them at any time. That night we had a Karaoke contest to win a tandem paragliding flight in Queenstown...we didn't win...(Lionel Ritchie's 'All Night Long' is harder than it sounds!)
Wanaka was next! We spent 3 days in this quiet, funky little town and Andrew was desparately hoping to skydive! Unfortunately the weather was never quite right and he wasn't able to go up. The mountains seemed almost close enough to touch and we spent a few afternoons in the sunshine just enjoying the scenery.
I had a much needed dentist appointment to fix my aching tooth. Bad news is my tooth is dead. (RIP tooth next to my molar). I feel much better now and the dentist was hot as. Ha! We went to this sweet little movie theater with only random sofa chairs and love seats to sit in (and of course an old convertible car for lovebirds) (we didn't sit there). At intermission they served us homemade ice cream and cookies and that pretty much made my whole trip right there. Pretty good movie too. We also went to Puzzle world and you can imagine what that was like! We had a blast in the illusion rooms and trying to navigate the 1.5m of labyrinth they had outside! Andrew pretended he was the Minotaur and I acted embarrassed. Good times.
Wanaka was also home to Natural Disaster #3 and 4 as we were woken from sleep by another earthquake and felt the aftershock again the next morning! This one was freaky! Our whole room was swaying and we felt like we were in a water bed. It lasted about 20-30 seconds but it felt much longer! Hopefully that's the last of those!
On our way to Queenstown we stopped off at the original bungy site - Karahau bridge and Andrew took the plunge!!! It was great and I got it all on video. Pictures will be online soon!
Here we are in Queenstown and although we know it is beautiful the rain and cloud are masking all the scenery. We're mad as but trying to make the best of it! Tomorrow off to Milford Sound if the weather holds up! Cross your fingers!
Miss you all back home!
Love,
SarahandRoo
YES WE HAVE SOME PICTURES!! Yahoo! What a disaster that was trying to get some pictures up...I have gained a lot more gray hair from getting that sorted out (look closely at my moustache and it is quite evident!)
So we last left you off in Punakaiki...What a beautiful spot. From there we headed to the booming city of Barrytown (aka Baz Vegas) poplulation 4. Sar and I did some bone carving in the morning, again it is surprising what you can make with a little expert guidance. Again, Sar topped the class with a sweet as bone carved necklace! I didn't do too shabby, but mine smells like burning...so I can't wear it right now. That night we kicked our shoes off, and pants and shirts for a fancy dress party (costume party). My costume of a Scottish school girl made me look more like William Wallace! Our bus driver's nickname is Gullom and he showed us why...he came out of nowhere with the most amazing Gollum costume of all time: weird hair strands, silver thong, black unitard (and hideous man body according to Sar) and glued on ears so he couldn't hear a thing! The night was a blast and we partied a bit later than usual.
Next morning we hopped on the bus to the scenic town of Franz Josef. It is nestled in the mountains and the views are spectacular. We opted to take the challenge of a full day hike up the Franz Josef glacier the next morning...Very cool (literally.) We were so lucky to have a sunny day for this one as it is supposed to rain about 99.9% of the time there. We had a guide take us up and carve steps in the ice as we went along. Now a bit of science: Franz Josef glacier actually sits down in a rain forest which makes it unique. It is also still growing at a considerable rate because of the 30m of snow the mountain gets each year! All this makes for a steep climb up! All in all Franz was Granz!
Next Stop Makarora. Sar and I went for an adrenalin filled helicopter flight around Mt Aspiring National Park. As a special treat we got to see the newest lake in the area created by a landslide...this lake if it bursts has the potential to put the whole town under water...Dang! The best part of the ride was when we dropped off one passenger to take a jet boat ride. It felt like right out of the movies, the jet boat was going up the river and we went up and sharply banked down right over top of them. One of the guys on the boat said he was expecting the machine guns to start firing at them at any time. That night we had a Karaoke contest to win a tandem paragliding flight in Queenstown...we didn't win...(Lionel Ritchie's 'All Night Long' is harder than it sounds!)
Wanaka was next! We spent 3 days in this quiet, funky little town and Andrew was desparately hoping to skydive! Unfortunately the weather was never quite right and he wasn't able to go up. The mountains seemed almost close enough to touch and we spent a few afternoons in the sunshine just enjoying the scenery.
I had a much needed dentist appointment to fix my aching tooth. Bad news is my tooth is dead. (RIP tooth next to my molar). I feel much better now and the dentist was hot as. Ha! We went to this sweet little movie theater with only random sofa chairs and love seats to sit in (and of course an old convertible car for lovebirds) (we didn't sit there). At intermission they served us homemade ice cream and cookies and that pretty much made my whole trip right there. Pretty good movie too. We also went to Puzzle world and you can imagine what that was like! We had a blast in the illusion rooms and trying to navigate the 1.5m of labyrinth they had outside! Andrew pretended he was the Minotaur and I acted embarrassed. Good times.
Wanaka was also home to Natural Disaster #3 and 4 as we were woken from sleep by another earthquake and felt the aftershock again the next morning! This one was freaky! Our whole room was swaying and we felt like we were in a water bed. It lasted about 20-30 seconds but it felt much longer! Hopefully that's the last of those!
On our way to Queenstown we stopped off at the original bungy site - Karahau bridge and Andrew took the plunge!!! It was great and I got it all on video. Pictures will be online soon!
Here we are in Queenstown and although we know it is beautiful the rain and cloud are masking all the scenery. We're mad as but trying to make the best of it! Tomorrow off to Milford Sound if the weather holds up! Cross your fingers!
Miss you all back home!
Love,
SarahandRoo
Pictures...Finally!!!
Click on this picture and it will take you to a selection of photos (only a few right now because we don't have that much storage per month with flickr). We hope you enjoy!
SarahandRoo
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