Housekeeping

So, for those of you counting we have had 4 flights cancelled.  This has led to a number of amazing changes in our trip.  Most of which led us a way from working computers.  Today we were supposed to fly to Cairns.  That flight was cancelled so we once again improvised.  Weaseled our way on to the only flight to Brisbane today.  Then booked another flight to Cairnes.  Epic.  Annoying. Irritating. Yes.  But we made it.  So here is a photo blog in chronological order to catch you up on our adventures through the rest of New Zealand.

Arthurs Pass National Park and the largest glacier in New Zealand.

Here is the little shack where we pulled over and had fresh lobster on the beach.

Wellington, the coolest city in New Zealand.  Not on the original agenda but since we had to drive we added it in. Sometimes things get all screwed up because thats the only way they get better.

Who says we arent cultured? Vino... yes please.  Wine tasting in Napier.

Ironic?  We went to Hell's Gate, New Zealand's version of yellowstone.  It was once again a welcome suprise in our travel plans.  Which of course gave us a chance to beautify...

Clayton needed a little more work than me.

The we went on the "black abyss" cave tour through Waitomo caves.  We free rapelled or absailed 300 meters into the cave, zip lined through the dark, and tubed through a freezing river, before climbing back to the surface through a water fall.

The top of New Zealand's greatest hike: Tongoriro Crossing.  Fantastic! 9 hours and 15 miles of pure uphill hell that was completely worth it.

Waitomo.  Hot beach (and hot it was over 100F, it burned in places).  A natural hot spring runs through the beach so you bring a shovel and dig your own hot tub right on the beach.  *Beer not included.  This is maybe one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Cathedral Cove.  This is in a natural archway between two beaches.  It was right before sunset and Clayton and I were the only ones on the beach.  It was a religious experience in a way.  Waitomo was my favorite place we went.

Finally we made it to Auckland before we flew out to Cairns.  Once again nothing worked out as we planned, making our plans all the more perfect.  We saw a playoff rugby game.  Go Blues!

Duke of Wellington

I am having a terrible time with these computers and getting pictures...sorry.

We got into Wellington really late, but got up really early the next morning.  We got up and headed for Cuba St. the local cultural center.  We were searching for a cafe called "Fidel's" for breakfast.  We couldn't find the place so we settled for one of the many other cafe's and had a fantastic breakfast.

We needed a big breakfast, because we love lookouts (if you cant tell) and lookouts are always really high.  We hiked to the top of  Mt. Victoria in central Wellington- yes there is a mountain in downtown Wellington.

Starved we hiked along the scenic bay of Wellington over to the Parliment building where we had lunch at Bench-Backer's Pub: a local political hangout covered with satirical political cartoons.  Then we spent the rest of the day basking in Wellington's eccentricities, museums, and shops.  Finally, we found Fidel's cuban cafe on Cuba St, where we did some people watching and rested our legs from hiking all over Wellington.

We finished our day in a Pub watching the Highlanders play the Blues in rugby.  We took in the game with some rabid Highlander fans.  I think we have been initiated into the Highlander fan club.

(No) Planes, (No) Trains, (Boats) & Automobiles

Another two days in the books and travel has been a mess.

Yesterday we got up and hopped in the car and headed for Arthur's Pass National Park.  Another beautifully scenic drive and multiple hikes in the books.  We had a close up encounter with the world's only alpine parrot enroute to Devil's Punchbowl Falls.  The computer wont allow me to add pictures right now, so you will have to trust me it was unreal.  We also hiked Castle Hill, a large rock outcropping that we climbed on like we were little kids.  I felt like I was 9 and Clayton was 6 again.

We got up this morning and headed to the airport to catch our flight.  Of course, not only were all Jet Star flights cancelled- but all flights out of Christchurch were cancelled.  No worries!  We re-rented our Ford Focus and headed for Picton to take the Interislander Ferry across the channel.  Turned out to be a blessing, because how else would we have driven along the Ocean on the East Coast and found the small shack serving todays catch lobster on the beach for lunch?  Didn't even need butter!

We reached Picton and ferried across the ocean with a frosty cold beer in hand watching Wellington come into view.  Budget extended our rental on the second island, but required we rent a new car for the same price.  Nothing screams American on Holiday more than the diesal land cruiser 4x4 we are pavement pounding in.  Hopefully more pictures in the future.

Hello North Island!

Chile and New Zealand Diplomatic Relations

Today we were supposed to fly to Christchurch.  Once again a giant volcano in Chile had other plans for us.  We arrived at the airport early enough to fly to Christchurch via other accommodations if Jetstar (our airline) cancelled flights again.  Drat-  everything was either cancelled or booked.

So we did the natural thing, improvised, and went and visited our good friends at Budget rent-a-car.  One day someone will ask me "Robert, I'm heading to New Zealand and I have choice between a Ford Focus and a Hyundai I30."  I hope they are ready for my assessment of both vehicles.  Without much delving into too much detail: 'Merica and book Clayton as your GPS.

However, inside every chickensh*t sandwich is of course chicken salad which we found without much trouble.  We headed north and saw some spectacular scenery and a probably 10,000 sheep.  There are something like 4:1 ratio of sheep to people in this country, no joke its on the internet.

We also stopped at Mt. Cook National Park, did some hiking, and took many pictures to entertain you.  And now we find ourselves safe and sound in Christchurch.

Jet Boats and Lord of the Rings

You know you are going to have a great day when you start your morning with a ham and cheese sandwich between two slices of French toast smothered in syrup.

Our last day in Queenstown was two days ago.  We got up early and rode Jetboats.  Imagine yourself riding on a wave runner with 10 other people.  The wave runner only needs about 4 inches of water to run- so you can feel the stones on the river bed hitting the boat.  Now imagine you are in a canyon 20 ft wide doing 60 miles an hour right at a rock wall while doing 360s and barely missing the walls in a -10 degree wind chill.  That's Jet Boating.

When we got back, we had few hours to kill so we decided to hike to the top of Queenstown hill.  We passed a woman on the way up and asked if there was a killer view.  She laughed, "Ya."  The view was the most spectacular view thus far.  As we stood on top of the mountain and a few fellow tourist educated us on where Rodin, the mythical city in Lord of the Rings was, we took in a view that words fail to describe.

That's us in the Basket of Dreams. 

After our hike we closed out our day at "Wine Tastes" sampling the wines of the region.  If I may, I recommend the Judge Rock Pinot Noir 2007, hints of plum on the pallet- amazing.

Air Travel, Epic Hikes,and Bungee

Today we did some living, and we lived well- but first a few words on our travel to Queenstown.

Leaving Australia was a Zoo.  In order to leave the country Quantas Airlines wanted our complete itenerary which we ended up accessing through a public computer in the middle of the airport.  The attendent then walked over and looked over my shoulder.  This was ok, because she was a huge babe and she then magically showed up at our departure gate after the excitement... wonder why?  Clayton, lets tone down the charm just a little shall we.

So thats how we go to Christchurch, NZ.  We got up this morning to fly to Queenstown aside from the volcano erruption in Chile which got our flight cancelled it was easy.  Then there was the MOST BAFFLING portion of anything thus far. There is 0 security in the Christchurch airport.. no metal detectors, nada.  We just paraded up to the gate, didnt show ID and jumped on the plane.  I felt safe.

Queenstown is easily the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.  Rugged mountains surround a lake paradise.  We ate lunch at the world famous (no joke they had an LA Times article on the wall) Fergberger.  Clayton and Robert lend 4 thumbs up.  Then, Clayton dragged me on the worlds most epic hike straight up the side of a mountain, it was worth it though. The top of a mountain overlooks the entire town.

Phenomenal.

Then Bungee.  We jumped off the Kawarau Bridge.  I will be honest with you.  The best part was watching Clayton swan dive off the bridge and hit the water.  Oh yes you read that correctly.  Clayton asked the guys if he could touch the water, but failed to specify with which part of his body.  They seemed to believe he wanted to use his entire upper body.

Sorry, we dont have the digital versions yet so we had to take a photo of the photos of Clayton waist deep upside down in water after jumping 142 feet.  Clayton got his moneys worth, technically jumping 145 feet.  Lucky for us and the Quantas lady at the airport Clayton's face is as beautiful as ever.

Melbourne: The Final Chapter

Today, today... what a grand day it was.

We got up early because we had to return the rental car to our rather demanding friends at Thrifty Rent-a-car.  Today, we wanted to see all we had missed of Melbourne.  After a brief breakfast at a coffee shop we set off across town to grab tickets for tonights Australian Football Game.

We snagged the tickets then set off to see the final sights that Melbourne had to offer.  We had an awesome day catching all the major sights and sounds of the city.  We saw the Exibition of 1890 center, the old Mint, the World War I memorial, the parliment building, numerous museums and of course... Young and Jackson.

Young and Jackson is Melbournes oldest bar established in 1860 after the first land auction.  What started out as a single pint quickly escalated after we made friends with a local chef.  One pint suddenly was well a few more than a pint.   As we reached the bottom of the glass I had learned a few things.. most notable and memorable were the fact that sharks and crocs could and would eat me in a single bite. 

Australian Rules is the game you would invent if given a ball and asked to invent a game that involved tackling.  I am not going to bore you with the rules only the knowledge that the game makes perfect sense and was probably invented on a playground.  It is also the game Clayton was born to play.  He is big, fast, can throw and kick, which all make up the game of Australian Rules Football.  Sorry Clayton you were born on the wrong continent.  We had a fantastic time and became true Aussies.

Tomorrow its off to New Zealand bright and early.

Great Ocean Road

"I have done this before, but the complete opposite"

Today we decide to leave the city behind and head for the "Great Ocean Road" 200 miles West of Melbourne.  As you probably already guessed, this involved renting a car, an Australian car.  As you have already deduced, they drive on the left side of the road, sit on the right side of the car, and have pretty much every gadget, gizmo and watchamacallit inside the car switched- so yes i kept turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal.  I am not suprised this place started as a slave colony.

We headed for the open highway and despite my best attempts to run our mid sized Hyundai (by mid size I mean trunk and two seats) into on-coming traffic, we made it on to the Great Ocean Road (GOR, oh yea we are moving to acronyms NG friends).  I admit the GOR at first was essentially the Pacific Coast Highway.  Then we reached our destination.

Clayton's daily itenerary called for a bratwurst breakfast at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, which was of course fantastic, then driving 5 and half hours to "The Twelve Apostles".  A note before we go- I have deduced in the last 36 hours Aussies love road signs (they have one for everything... everything), hooded sweatshirts, and brats.

The 12 Apostles along with "The Grotto", "London Bridge", and "Sea of Martyrs" were a series of giant rock formations on the south coast of Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Apostles_(Victoria)).  Clayton did not disappoint.  They were absolutely fantastic.  The rain parted and it seemed that God smiled on us a little as we had perfect sunset weather to see them.

It took us 6 hours to drive there and you will not be suprised Clayton found a shortcut on a map without any help.  We got home in half the time, but almost hit a Kangaroo.

Day 1 of Sorts (And so it begins..)

Well, we made it.  Day one is in the books... or days 1-3 however you slice it. 

Clayton and I landed in Australia and had one heck of a day. If you know anything about Clayton his first objective was to obtain a map of Melbourne, then establish where everything was, and then plan our day... all before we left the airport.

This is after he befriended his seat mate on the plane and established where his planning of our grand trip had gone awry.  So needless to say, I slept for 9 hours on the plane and Clayton made a new friend who redefined the meaning of invading your personal space (she slept on top of him essentially).

We walked across Melbourne yesterday.  We climbed to the top of the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere, hiked the entirety of Melbourne, got our bearings, and passed out at 7 PM and slept til 7AM this morning. 

A huge highlight for me was going to "Dainty Sichian Food".  I always watch the show "Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations" and we went on his recommendation.  The food was incredibly spicy but unbelievably good.  Though two family sizes dishes could have fed an army.

So it is, well rested, well fed, and ready for day 2.  G'day.