Milford Sound and Lake Wanaka

Today was our Milford Sound trip.  We made our way to Te Anau where we had a chance to take a glow worms tour, but chose to keep on to the Sound.  Up at the Sound, we could have gone the conventional route and taken the hike and camped for a few days with the cold, sandflies, and rain…but we went against convention and took a cruise up the Sound.  Actually it is a Fiord.  They call it Milford Sound, but it is actually a Fiord due to glaciers and some other explanations that I do not remember.  It was stunning though.  We experienced the mountains, the waterfalls, and ultimately the Tasman Sea.  We saw sea lions and were soaked by one of the huge waterfalls.  What an experience!!

She likes me!

On our way to Milford Sound.  The bus was nice because then we could both sight see

Another waterfall (seen a lot at this point!?)

Wide Open Spaces (Shelley is singing here and sending her love home)

One of the stops on the way to Milford Sound

SURPRISE another waterfall!!  Shelley is about to jump in!

This bird, the KEA, will eat your liver and eyes if you get injured

500 meter waterfall viewed from the boat cruise we took 

Spectacular view of the sound

Looking like a traveler, Shelley is keeping warm enjoying nature's beauty

Cliff jumping anyone?

A group of young male seals sunning and staying away from the older meaner males

Here is our postcard to everyone at home!!  Enjoy

After a long drive back, we made our way up to Lake Wanaka.  It’s a sleepy town with gorgeous views of the mountains.  Families make up this town and it was hopping with youth soccer, a half marathon, and people simply enjoying the lakefront.  We made our way around town, talking to the locals, having a coffee, then heading up for a hike at Diamond Lake.  Following our “cardio” session, we took a swim in Lake Wanaka (brrrrrrrr) then happy hour with the locally brewed beer.  We sat in the sun, warming up and had a few beers, then went to our campsite for some homemade cereal (j/k!) and a movie!!  Great day again!!

Shelley looking out on Lake Wanaka, deciding whether or not to get in

About to jump in the ice water....bbrrrrrrrr

Thumbs up for you Shelley, we did it!!

I can't believe we actually did it Erik!?  Oh the horror!

Queenstown, NZ

Woke up to beautiful sunshine, coffee, yogurt, fruit and got started on our day.  Again, mountains out of our windows and lake below--WOW.  Erik, our trusty driver, drove to the store in town for a space heater, while I got ready in the back as the van twisted and turned along the curvy path.  I soon realized the safest position was sitting—floor or seat—it didn’t matter.  The day was beautiful and we took full advantage exploring the towns many shops and art galleries.  We were even tempted to buy a few things including a charming painting, tight green pants (for Shelley!) and some honey hand lotion.  Instead we splurged on some McDonald’s shakes.  Keeping with tradition, later in the day we found a table in the sun and enjoyed a beer outside. 

For a bird’s eye view we took the Skyline Gondola (two person—how romantic!) up to Bob’s Peak, overlooking the city.  Once at the top we went to the observation deck, but that wasn’t high enough for us two thrill seekers.  Oh no!  We kept going up and up.   Even for us two gym rats, we were breathing hard as we climbed to the top.  Both of us were amazed at the lack of security and fencing “protecting” the visitors.  I know my mom (Barb) would have had an issue with where I was standing as even I told Erik, “I’m not looking at you standing that close to the cliff!!!”  We watched some paragliders jumping off the mountain in front of us and decided to keep climbing.  Eventually the two of us made it to the top.  It was such an unreal experience to be that far up, staring out into the mountains, lake and city and simply be just the two of us there.  Erik felt the need to leave his mark (mark his territory, if you know what I mean) and off we went back to civilization.

View from the gandola in Queenstown

Had to get a pic of the two of us on the observation deck!!

We splurged for dinner and visited the highly popular Fergburger and put our orders in for some “top of the line” Fergburgers.  We enjoyed the burgers (Erik having the deer burger—now he has had kangaroo and deer?!).  We capped off the night with a beer.

Mt. Cook--Tallest mountain in NZ

With the mountains smiling at us in the morning, we make our way to Mt. Cook.  Still amazed by the roadside scenery, we stop upon the Mt. Cook hotel and grab a map for our next trek.  We drive a bit down the road, make our usual coffee and eat breakfast and off on the trails we go!

At the base of Mt. Cook we begin our four hour hike.  Up and down boulders and paths, checking out many waterfalls and indigenous plants, crossing several long bridges—they swung with the wind and our weight-- surrounded by mountains we made our way to the base of the mountain and a lake with a glacier. There were mini icebergs floating on the lake and the bet we made was for one of us to swim to one of the icebergs…neither of us took the bet.  The water looked gray and was ice cold.  We skipped some rocks in the water and climbed over others and made our way back.  It was incredible scenery and we could feel the dramatic change in temperatures along our route.

We have begun our journey towards Mt Cook

Some of the scenery we passed on our hike...Shelley wants more pics!!

That little iceberg in the background is called Shelley's Berg...and it will sink ships! 

Shelley needing help on the suspension bridge.  I think she'll make it

Shelley trying to make new friends.  They all ran for some reason, but she loves them anyway

Back on our way to Queenstown—the adventure capital of the world, or as Shelley and I would say, “the most overpriced adventure town in the world”.  It costs around $2.50 to shower, $7+ for an ice cream, $4.35 for a McD’s Cheeseburger $0.79 in Chicago, $30+ for an average meal, $169 for the same shoes Shelley bought in the US for $49…you get the drift.

Got to Queenstown, found a campsite, made dinner, tried using the internet we PAID for and it didn’t work, the temperature plummeted and our heater broke.  Shelley slept in two coats and blankets…time to buy another heater.

CAMPERVAN

See ya Christchurch, Hello Campervan Adventure.  With a little apprehension, we decided to go the Campervan route for the next two weeks.  The apprehension lied in the fact that all of our belongings would be in an unattended vehicle for most days, driving on the WRONG side of the road, different road rules and roundabouts, mountain driving, and Shelley wanting to drive a stick shift van. 

Once on the road, those worries slowly dissipated and we were on our way.  It is actually kind of fun.  We got a small Volkswagen Campervan (we have joined the hippie movement!!).  We both love it (but do wish there was a bathroom as late night nature calls pose a little of an issue).  Shelley has chosen to be constantly dehydrated, which I don’t blame her as stepping out in the cold at three in the morning is not always so fun.  Although, reminding her of her cross country days she has reinvigorated herself with the “freedom peeing” as she likes to call it. 

Driving through beautiful farmland and cattle lands with the mountains looming in the distance, we made our way to Lake Tekapo.  It is a scenic, super blue lake and the beginning of our nature trip.  We took a walk around part of the lake fueled by our Australian gummy candy which we love!

Old Church by Lake Tekapo...look at the mountains

Chillin (literally!) by the lake (the first of many many many many lakes)

Inside the campervan, getting ready for our first frigid night.

Should we stay at the scenic lake or should we go.  The flexibility of having our hotel on wheels allows for this decision each day.  We shall go.  We decided to begin to make our way to Mt. Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand.  We could see the Southern Alps in the distance, covered in snow.  Thinking that we had minimal warm gear, this would be interesting.

We decided to stop at a campground close to the base of the mountain and right on a lake.  A few beers and a bowl of cereal and we were out like a light!

Christchurch, New Zealand

Goodbye Australia and welcome to New Zealand!  Taking a late night flight at 11:45PM, we arrive at the airport and fly off to Christchurch, NZ to arrive at 5AM.  Glossy eyed and exhausted, we find a poll near the luggage collection, insert our earplugs and build a cozy fort with our baggage to catch some zzz's before the information desk opened at 7:30AM.  With the airport worker looking overhead, we were told to get off the floor and move on.  Move on we did!

Look out NZ, here come the Americans!  Loaded with every free map and phamplet we could grab, we hoped into an airport shuttle and made way for the Camelot Lodge.

Tired and irritable, we dropped our bags and took a long walk around Christchurch to a local farmer's market where we struck gold.  Beauitful looking bake goods, vegetables (oh how we miss thee), fruit, bread, etc.,.  We make some purchases, consume many free samples, chill out, people watch and soak in the people of NZ.

Standing by the crystal clear Avon river running through the center of Christchurch

Back to the hotel, we hung out and passed out by the pool and spa (hot tub).  This was the first time a hotel actually had a spa when quoted such.  We hung out with the girls "touch" team, which is basically touch football.  The girls were jumping in and out of the freezing pool and hot tub, which added some excitement to our evening!  We grilled out with the goods from the market and enjoyed the rest of the night.  We both slept like angels that night.  I (Shelley) actually slept in until noon!  This is a rare occurance and Erik wasn't quite sure what to do, but realized this was a good thing.

Day #2 in Christchurch and we again explored the city by foot.  We went to the Botantical Gardens, an artists market, the local grocery store and downtown.  It was an unreal experience to see all of the destruction in downtown from the earthquake last year.  The destroyed buildings cannot be taken down by explosives, unlike buildings made in America, but instead need to be dismantled piece by piece.  We had a chance to speak with many local business owners and the rebuilding process has been extremely slow with insurance and the government.  However, the government actually has the money in the coffers to support the rebuilding effort--due to a quake in the '30's where they began putting money aside.  It truly was a sight to see, so many buildings closed up with blankets over the furniture and stores with goods inside untouched.  The downtown shopping area has since been constructed out of box cars--kind of neat.  Another evening of food on the barbie and a dip in the "spa"--just another day in NZ.

Suns out, Shelley is blossoming in the Botanical Gardens 

I need to get this flower out of the ground for Shelley!!

The sign brings back memories for Shelley...kind of looks like a picture of her made it to the sign?! 

Fencing around the downtown where all the destruction took place.  Sad.  But they are rebuilding

A day of planning for the road trip and a final chance to explore Christchurch by foot.  We made our way to the city museum..  Did I mention it was free?!  It was the coolest museum we saw!!  Some more sightseeing through the parks and another night on the grill and by the spa.  We are about ready for our roadtrip!!!!!!!

Yarra Valley Wine Tour

Beautiful isn't it!!

Checking out and excited for our next tour, we walked to St. Paul's cathedral for the bus to pick us up for our Yarra Valley Wine Tour.  We spent the day driving out to Yarra Valley exploring four different wineries.  They really need to feel up the glasses more if I'm going to TRULY enjoy the wine.  It was goregous to see the vineyards, farmland and meet some interesting people in our group.  We had an delicious lunch at the Rochford Winery.  They have an area used for concerts and were preparing for one on the grounds.  Famous artists such as Rod Stewart, INXS and others performed there drawing in almost 18 thousand people, consequently surpporting the local businesses in the area.

We really enjoyed all of the wineries and ended the tour with some sparkling wines (very girly) at Domain Chandon (look it up).

Shelley preparing to become a wine maker

Too girly, but tastes so good!

Aren't these pics getting a little too mushy...the wine is beginning to work

Great time, great wine, great company!

Melbourne!!

The next morning we made our way for the airport and off we went to Melbourne for our last city on our Australian tour.  Our airport shuttle experience proved interesting with an elderly couple that wouldn't let the driver speak to the group as they asked about anything and everything they saw through the window.  The woman couldn't believe how tall the buildings were?!  We checked into our hotel and were surprised on how big the place was.  They upgraded us to a two bedroom, which we thought of renting out but coudln't quite come up with a roommates we would want.  Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city with people who have crazy colored hair and piercings, but cool melting pot of cultures.  We walked the cities several area and made friends with the library (free internet for planning) and Federation Plaza (more internet for planning).

On our first night there we searched and scoured the city for somewhere to eat.  Street after street we were wondering where all of the restuarants were.  Finally, we ran across some in a side street--an alley in Chicago talk.  The city was like a maze in that sense, when walking you ran across many  hidden tresures.  We ended up buying some dumplings to go and some beers at the "bottle shop".

We finally found some internet that works!! 

Down by the Yarra River and the Rowing Clubs, getting ready for our first beer of the day

Day #2, we toured the city by foot again and visited the museum, some more gift shops (again, the price of entry to many of the museums exceeded our daily budget), the Greek Precinct, Federation Square, beers by the Yarra River, and took the free trolley loop around the city.  We ended the night on the another "secret street" for some fish sandwiches.  Taking advantage of our free washer and dryer (all in one wonder machine) we did two loads of laundry that night.  Unfortunately, the dryer didn't seem to want to dry.  So throughout the whole night, Erik (and me once) kept restarting the defective dryer.  Needless to say Erik didn't really sleep and I was up much of the night too.

Shelley following the crowd...weird looking people here in Melbourne

Cool style homes in CBD (Central Business District) in Melbourne, reminds us of New Orleans

St. Paul's Church, one of the many beautiful churches

Where in the world is Shelley and Erik?? Can you find us on the Jumbotron?

Rainforest Tour (near Cairns)

Now for the rainforest tour.  We got up and made our way with Uncle Brian's tour.  The bus pulled up and off we went, meeting "cousin" Brad and the bus passengers.  We visited some rainforests, swam in a volcano, and had a swim through a very powerful waterfall.  I couldn't believe how powerful it was as I swam behind it and tried to follow

Erik through it.  I coudln't see through all the spray and the deafening noise of the falls made.  So, I gripped what rock I could find to stand up and figure out what to do next.  Erik swam back and pushed me through the waterfall and you know what...it was amazing!  Just an FYI, Herbal Essence commercial was filmed here ladies!!

Another huge waterfall

Another WATERFALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the way back we stopped by an overflowing river, allowing people to bravely pop in with the scare of crocks possibly lingering.  We ended the day singing on the bus to old 80's and 90's tunes and stopping on the side of the road for a case of beers. Goodbye Carins! Oh and trust me, Erik was all about the singing and dancing :)  Could you imagine anything less?

Crocodile filled river...."Shall I get in?"

The dense rainforest, hope we don't get lost with all the spiders

YIIIPPPPEEEE, another one!?