Hiking Ben Lomond! + DAY 5 Kayak in Milford Sound

Hejsan pa er allihopa,

Sunday 1st of March is a rainy day here in Queenstown, which suits me being a little tired after 4,5 hours of hiking and at least 3 hours of intense beer drinking yesterday. Staying at Hostels here in New Zealand is really nice easy to meet new people all the time, so far I've been out drinking with 1 Englishman, 1 Frenchman, 1 Irish fellow, 1 Japanese, 2 German girls and 1 girl from London.

Did a bit of tramping (vandring) yesterday up a mountain called Ben Lomond 1748m, views on the way up was great though it was a cloudy day. But when I finally reached the Summit (toppen) Low clouds where moving in making the views from up there somewhat limited, which was to bad as I would have had great views of the surrounding mountains and lake Wakatipu on a clear day.

When i got down i went shopping for dinner, made pasta and Lamb. Also meet a guy from France and two girls from London which i ended up going out with, which was fun as we went to a bar with live music (cover band) good one though that didn't just play No 1 list hits.

So today I was a little bit tired as I walked down to Joe's Garage for breakfast 2 cappuccinos and "the local" which is toast, bratwurst, eggs, bacon tomatoes and mushrooms. Mums!

DAY 5 "13/2-09" Milford Sound and Arriving in Queenstown (on the Active NZ trip)

Got up early in the morning for breakfast, most of us eager to go out on the Fiord (engelsk stavning av norska Fjord). The weather was perfect (exept for the wind) with clear blue sky and a stunning view of the Mountains Surrounding the Fiord.

Some info about Norwegian Fjords, if you're interested can be found by clicking here

Arriving at the very moderate camp site, where our Kayaking guides lived, we started to by putting on life wests and spray skirts = (det dar overdraget man har runt midjan mar man paddlar kajak). It was double kayaks so we teamed up two and two, I got in the Kayak together with Callum the Londoner. Sins both of us where quite tall, Callum being the taller one I got the responsibility of steering the Kayak sins he could not get his feet on the pedals for the rudder.

I was barely able to get my feet in place wearing sandals but it kind of worked OK. After heading out our first task was to practise "Rafting up" where we all put our kayaks close together to be more stable in case of strong winds or tsunamis (as the guide smilingly explained).
Being in the relaxed rafting up position I felt like taking a break from the rudder pedals to stretch my legs, unfortunately i could not get my feet back on the pedals afterwards. Which resulted in a slight uneasy feeling of bad steering capability's as one of the many tour boats crossed our path.

But me and Callum tried to stay cool, steered as good we could up towards the surge (svallvag) of the passing boat. When the water got calmer I took of my spray skirt and then my sandals, after that I was easy to get the feet back on the rudder pedals so that we could regroup with the others.

Hindsight in hand (med facit i hand) my elegant maneuver to loos the pedals, meant that we got in the best of the two groups which did the kayaking as we took the easier way back and didn't have to fight for our lives paddling back.

The views where just amazing paddling around in the Fiord, the scale of everything is just so massive that your sense of distance get totally out of hand (propotionerna blev helt galana). Things that where around 10 km away looked to be within 2-3 km, so it was good to have a guide that could tell us not to paddle to far away with the head wind (medvind), then being to tired to get back.

The guide showed us something called a three avalanche (trad-lavin) which to the special circumstances of Milford was quite common. The threes on the steep mountains where not able to root very far down so after a storm or heavy rain fall sometimes o few threes at the top fell and then like in a regular avalanche took the rest of the underneath vegetation with them rolling down the mountain side with thundering force. When all the threes then hit the water they could create an tsunami with over 5m high waves, So I guess the "Rafting up" could be useful in those cases :-)

We also got to see some New Zealand Fur seals (palssal) which according to the guide actually where a spices of sea lion. The looked like they had a great day just relaxing on the cliffs by the shoreline.

After about 4-5 hours a truly great Kayaking experience where at an end, to some of the members of the other group with what looked like a great relief.

Back on the bus Baz handed out towels, and I could not resist having all these Americans around me to make a turban of my towel and imitate a Muslim (which most of them found amusing) After showering, we had a nice nacho dinner and then we got on the bus to Queenstown.

Arriving in Queenstown Baz took us on a short bus sightseeing to point out some of the good places in Queenstown, went passed quite fast sins Queenstown isn't all that big. Then me, Callum, Bill and Sarah went for some Indian food.

After dinner we drank a few beers before going to bed eager to explore all the adventures of Queenstown the next day.

Back in Queenstown!! + DAY 4 Active Fiordland

Hejsan, Svejsan!

Arrived in Queenstown yesterday, my plan is to try and find some way to visit some winery's in the area. So far I have just been able to reach Felton Road Viticulturist Gareth King by e-mail, but not by phone. So I'm planning to take the bus to Cromwell tomorrow to have a look around.
For now though I'm just hanging around in the city, which isn't to bad.

Now for the next episode of my trip with Active NZ

DAY 4 Active Fiordland

Morning Started early with some nice scrambled eggs (defiantly in the top three, depending on the eggs :-). Then we where fitted out with Mountain bikes to start biking from Manapouri to Te Auna ( 20 km). We had the option of taking a longer bike ride, but my ass told me that 20 km was just fine.
Instead I went for a "Short Black" (kiwi term for espresso) at the Sandfly Cafè. Re energized after the coffee the bus headed in the direction of Milford Sound. Next event of the day was to hike parts of the famous Rotheburn Trak up to something called Key Summit. Weather was cloudy and little bit foggy but no rain. The hike took some +3 hours up and down, the Forrest's was absolutely beautiful, so was probably also the views but they where partly covered by fog.

After the hike we headed for the Hollyford road to yet again climb on to our bikes. This was a nice mostly downhill bike ride on gravel road, along side the stunning Hollyford river. Unfortunately my camera drank some water out of my water bottle when they spent time together in my backpack. This off course meant that my camera stopped working and went into a state of Cinderella beauty sleep :-(

With the camera not working we immediately got sunny weather and perfect conditions for photographing, + Heep's of things to photograph, what a shame. My travel friends liked it though because it meant that they didn't have to wait up for me while I took photos.

After the bike ride we got back on the bus to drive down to Milford Sound, on the way there we drove through the narrow ca 1,3 km long Homer Tunnel opened in the 50's. Before the tunnel was built you could just get to Milford through the Milford track (walking), by boat, by airplane or helicopter. After exiting the tunnel the confident (as Baz explained) bike riders where in for a nice treat, we got a last ride down the road to Milford sound. This was a steep meander road (=serpentin vag, typ trollstigen) which meant that we easily reached 50-70 km/h on the bikes going down "that was awesome, best bike ride of my life" We all had a big grin on our face when Baz picked us up, by the end of the downhill.

Then we arrived in beautiful Milford sounds didn't get to take any pictures myself but my nice friend Callum Piper took some nice ones that I'm glad to be able to publish on my blog Thank you Callum. After checking in to the hostel we walked down to the "Blus Duck" which was the restaurant where we had dinner, Pasta Bolognese and a pitcher of Beer, life was good i tell you!

That was the end of that very intense day, my camera was resting on the heather with it's battery and memory card removed.
PS. the pictures of me biking is the last ones I managed to take with the camera
See you soon
Martin

DAY 3 Bus ride to Manapouri

To wake us up Baz made us nuclear coffee for breakfast, well needed after our first days tough hike. The goal for the day was to drive from Breamar to Manapouri in Fiordland National Park, by the southwest coast of New Zealand. As this was a quite long distance to travel we had several stops on the way.

First stop was at something called "the clay cliffs" which was a very cool formation of sand, stones and clay. Next exiting thing happened when we drove south through Lindis Pass, suddenly the whole road was filled with Merino sheep running and jumping between the cars.

After getting passed the sheep we drove on to Cromwell "The fruit city" where we had a delicious berry ice cream. After finishing the ice cream we tried the typically Cromwell competition of cherry seed spitting, I defended the Swedish colours and won with the longest spit. YES!!

For our next stop we dropped by Peregrine Winery, to by some bottles and try some wine, and also to stop by the famous AJ. Hackett Original Kawarau Bridge Bungy. Then we stopped for lunch and a short stroll through Queenstown, a beautiful little city by Lake Wakatipu filled with tourists and people seeking thrills and adventure.

A few hours later we reached Manapouri where we where spending the night. Took a short walk by the beach at the lake and got my first encounters with the New Zealand sand fly, and of course got bitten :-)

Sand fly = Knott eller nagot liknande som bits

Then I went to the Bar for a couple of pints of Speight's (NZ Beer) and then a nice Zoe cooked dinner before going to bed.

DAY 2 Glenn's Birthday Hike

The second episode of my South Island journey, starts on the morning of Feb 10th, with some nice French toast for breakie. When we then entered the bus it was all decorated with balloons, to celebrate Glen (One of the Americans on the trip). After some Hurrays we drove around Lake Pukaki to the Village of Mount Cook. The weather seamed to be rainy so most of us put on our rain gear. The goal of the day was to hike up a ridge next to Mount Cook to get nice views of the mountain and the valley below as our reward.
But in the beginning it seamed to be a fruitless journey up the very steep ridge without any spectacular view. Luckily though after a few hours of tramping the undulating :-) track the clouds and the fog gave away and we could get the nice view of the valley below.
Understandably most of us turn around to hike back down after about 65% of the ridge at the first nice viewpoint. But some of us, including me persevered and kept on tramping to the top of the ridge.

( Undulating= terrang som gar upp och ner dvs. boljande, men pa Nya Zeeland betyder det att man forst gar upp for ett brant berg och sedan ner igen)

On the way back to Breamar we all stopped at a stunning viewpoint by Lake Pukaki and celebrated our first Active hike ( and Glenn) with some NZ sparkling Lindauer Brut.

Back at Breamar me and newly arrived Amy from San Diego (no not the Zoo) took a quiet refreshing swim in Lake Pukaki, I was very happy to find someone that shared my passion for going swimming in cold conditions on the trip, Thak You Amy!!

The day ended with a nice outdoor dinner with Salmon and NZ sweet potatoes, and me rushing of from the dinner table to photograph Mount Cook in the perfect light ( to every ones amusement)


Martin

Tillbaka i Christchurch

Hej, hej hello allihopa everybody!

I'm now back in Christchurch after 14 days of constant adventures throughout the South Island of New Zealand. I feel good and just a little tired after a quiet tough finish of the trip (a three day hike in beautiful but rainy Nelson Lakes National Park, of which i will tell you more later).

So I've had the trip of my life and I'm quite excited to tell you about it, you all no me and tendency to tell my stories a little to detailed and far to long, so bare with me while I try to make this as short and Interesting as possible for you.

Day 1 Christchurch to Breamar Station by Mount Cook National Park

I and the other members of the trip was picked up in Christchurch by our two Guides Barry and Zoe. Then they took us in a southwesterly heading towards the adventures of the Southern Alps.
After a short lunch stop we drove up onto the Mekenzie planes to a lake called Tekapo. Right next to the lake which had beautiful turquoise coloured water we climbed a hill called Mount John,from up there we had a stunning view of the lake and the surrounding area.
After admiring our first viewpoint, of which there would be many to follow, we headed on towards Breamar Sheep Station. The Sheep station was beautifully placed right next to lake Pukakai with the Backdrop of Mount Cook (at 3754m New Zealands tallest Peak).
For out first Dinner we had a BBQ with steak, chicken, sausages, portabello mushrooms and nice feta salad, together with some New Zealand wine. Then we all fell to sleep eagerly awaiting next mornings tough hike in Mount Cook National Park.


This was my first day of the trip, more stories will follow but right now I have to end to get my laundry out of the washer.

Ha det toppen!
Martin

Queenstown

Hejsan alla glada!

My trip has now landed in Queenstown "The Adventure Capital of the World".
First of all I have to say that the last couple of days here in Kiwi land has been beyond amazing and that probably still is kind of an understatement. Den enda fnurran pa traden was my camera that got water injuries and died for a day, but it has now been resurrected and works just as good as before :-)

My group of Active New Zealand friends are now spread all over the Queenstown area to partake in numerous different activities, I 'm going to go Paragliding in about 2,5 hours and after that I'm up for a adrenaline rush in the so called "Canyon Swing". The Canyon Swing is somewhat like bungee jumping but instead of just falling down you swing in a big line over a canyon (dalgang).

I am actually very exited right now and a little nervous about this but hopefully I will have a great experience and Sins my camera magically rose from the dead to day I feel lucky enough to say that I will live to tell about today's adventures.

You'll here from me soon again I promise

PS. Please note that you can leave comments (kommentarer) at the bottom on each new published blog post.

Happy Living
Martin Orchideen

Sista dagarna i Christchurch

Hello everybody!

Time for the last report from Christchurch and probably the last one for awhile. Tomorrow I go out on the South Island tour that is the reason for starting my journey in Christchurch. I now have 14 action packed days ahead of me, and my expectations are high.

But before I write more about the tour I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the last two days here in Christchurch. Right after leaving the Internet place yesterday I walked to this Japanese restaurant and had a perfect lunch to a bargain price. I had a large bowl of steamed rice that was covered with thick slices of raw tuna and Salomon :-)

Full and satisfied I took a bus to a part of the city called Heatcote Valley, here they have a gondola "kabinlift" which take you up on a mountain (very old volcano) and the view is stunning. You can see the whole city and in the far background the Southern Alps. After spending sometime at the gondolas top station I catched the bus back to the city.

Back in the city I bought a lamm sovlaki for dinner and then walked back to the hotel for a quiet night with some reading in my newly bought wine guide book of New Zealand wines.

Today I have been taking it fairly slow started the day with breakfast at cafe by the Art Center, Vegetable focaccia with capucciono and orange juice. Then I strolled through the Botanic Gardens and took some pictures. The Gardens are great a large park with all kinds of trees, flowers and great lawns where you can lay down and rest.
Just outside the Botanic Gardens lays the Canterbury Museum which I visited sins I was in the neighborhood. The Museum was like a crossing between a history and a natural history museum. It displayed some Mauri artifacts, early New Zealand settlers history, dinosaur fossils and Asian and Egyptian artifacts. Pretty Interesting though I fist entered to use the toilet :-)

After my cultural enlightenment's i walked through the city center to find some food, the problem is not to find some where to eat, but to decide where to eat. Christchurch is PACKED with restaurants almost one every ten meters. It's almost as many restaurants here as in Stockhom.
The really good thing is that you can find very good food for small amounts of money. I have focused on Asian and vegetarian (except for the lamm sovlaki) healthy, cheep and tasty. Finally I decided on Sushi.

Tomorrow The Adventure starts!!
day 1 Stay at a sheep farm close to Mount Cook (Highest Mountain here 3755 m)
day 2 Hike in the Mount Cook national park
day 3 Transfer day to Lake Manapouri ( a lake in the Fiordland area)
day 4 Hike the Routeburn track and Cycle in Hollyford Valley (both places in the Fiordland area)
day 5 Sea kayak in Milford Sound ( the most famous fjord in New Zealand)
day 6 Queenstown ( action and adventure Capital of New Zealand, the Bungy jump was invented here)
day 7 transfere from Queenstown to Mount Aspiring National Park (Aspiring is called the Matterhorn of New Zealend)
day 8 Hike to Franz Josef Glacier
day 9 kayak Okarito Lagoon ( wetland on the west coast with great birdlife)
day 10-13 Hike Angels Circuit ( hike through the national parks around Nelson)
day 14 Snorkel with fur seals in Kaikura ( kul dyka med salar :-)

What do you think about that???
Sins I won't bee able to reach a computer for most of that time I will have to recapitulate the story for you In about two weeks.

Ha det nu sa gott allihopa

Jag lovar att ta det lugnt pa resan a inte bryta nagra ben :-)

Martin

Christchurch Dag 2

Hej igen!

Fick klagomal fran morsan om Engelskan, men tanker anda fortsatta skrivandetr pa just engelska, du far lov att ova dig i engelsk lasning mor det ar bara nyttigt.

So after writing my first blog post in New Zealand yesterday, I decided to continue as planed. Had some vegetarian curry and rice at Govindas (they gave you a double portion for 9 NZ dollars (ca 45 sek) and it tasted more than OK.

After lunch I started my long walk to the beach, I had just taken a short glare at the city map at my Hotel so I had to figure out the way as I went. Fortunately I brought some water with me. After 1,5 hours it became to warm to continue in my shoes so I switched to sandals and also rolled up the jeans. That helped allot with the heat but the sandals are not perfect for walking long distances so now I got a blister on my left foot.

I reached the "North Beach" after about 2,5 hours of walking (probably not the closest way) and it was a beautiful long sand beach with big waves. So I changed into my surf shorts and left the bag next to a friendly Kiwi who promised to guard it while i took a swim. The water was refreshing about 19-20 degrees so not so much different from home, Just allot bigger waves.

After my short swim and sun-drying I decided to take the bus back to town. I Also visited a Pier next to the beach where I took some photos.

Back in town I took a shower at the hotel and then I decided to go shopping for some fruit, to have something to eat at my room. After shopping I went to a Korean restaurant which I'd seen from the bus, I had a very tasty Bee-bimp-bap (or how it's called) and a Ashai beer.

Don't now if it was the beer or the dark that played my sens of orientation a trick, but I tried a different way home which took me an extra 35 min of walking :-)

So today I've been to the pharmacy to by compeed for the blister and also looked inside the Cathedral of Christchurch. My plans are to try and go with the Gondola "kabinlift" to get a nice view of the city and take some pictures for a panorama.

See you later mates!

Martin

Flygresan till Chirstchurch

Hejsan, Svejsan Allihopa!

thought that I'll write in English ( partly to exercise my English and also because of the non Swedish keyboard)

To start with I was pretty lucky to miss the snow storm (by British standards :-) that pretty much put a stop to all flights to and from Heathrow on Monday. But sins I started my trip on Tuesday they had managed to clear the massive 4 cm of snow from the runway.
You can see how it looked like on one of the photos.

The journey from London to Auckland took about 10 hours and I had lamb stew and Kiwi Syrah for dinner. Tried to get some sleep but that was hard to accomplish, so I watched some movies and listen to an audio book instead.
In LA we had to walk through passport control before we could continue our flight to Auckland. Think this was just a convenient way for the Americans to get our photos and fingerprints taken.
Back on the plane again I finally managed to get some sleep, which was lucky sins this flight took 12 hours.

Finally in Auckland the New Zealand customs waited with there procedures, and I honest as I am Declared that I had this Swedish tobacco in my luggage (didn't show them all of it of course but just a little bit). This worked fine and they asked me some questions and I declared perfectly honest that my intentions was to just use this tobacco by my self "It's mine, my own, my precious"

So after this I just made it to the flight to Christchurch. On this flight I had the camera ready to try and capture New Zealand from above.

In Christchurch I took a cab to my Hotel/Hostel and typical for me I managed to leave the camera behind in the cab (yes I know :-) The very friendly reception girl helped me with that and I got the camera back, so all is fine.

Started my first day in Christchurch with some walking, In the Botanic Gardens and the City Center. Sins my Camera was still riding around in the cab I could not take any pictures of that, but I probably will, both the city and the Gardens are beautiful. What I managed to do though was to find a suitable Internet place and a fair priced Sushi restaurant. So after eating some Eel and walking some more I returned to the Hotel for a Much needed shower and then I could not help my self from falling asleep.

So today is Friday and I've just had some scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, the weather is Sunny and it's about 25 degrees outside, in short a nice summer day! So my plans are to eat at Govindas (Indian vegetarian restaurant) and then go down to the beach. The Cab driver told me that the water temperature should be around 20 degrees, so I'm planning to do some swimming.

Well hope you all have a nice time at home.

Martin