The light hours...

Back at the lodge after my cruise through Milford Sound.  Mason Jennings is playing now while I type.  A nice touch.

Wow, it is COLD on the water.  There were times I wondered if I'd get frostbite if I stayed out any longer.  It's been an hour and 15 minutes since the cruise and my ears are still cold.

Waiting for the bus now.  It's 11:13AM computer time (12:13PM New Zealand).  My bus comes at 2:15PM, and then it's a 4 and a half hour trip back to Queenstown, where I meet Jude at the grocery store at 7:30PM.

The only way into Milford Sound by automobile, the tunnel was built
with pick axes and man power.  A few men died while building this tunnel;
the result of avalanches from the steep terrain.

If you look carefully, you can see evidence

of the manmade chisel work!

Jude must still be on the bus back to Queenstown.  He left at 9:30AM, so he should arrive around 2PM.  He's planning on going Parasailing, which should be fun.  He said it was a bit cheaper than it would be at Torrey Pines.  I imagine he will be flying tandem, so not too much to worry about there.  I just hope he gets some photos and videos.  I'd love to see it secondhand.

The cruise was nice.  I went by foot to the wharf again (which is about a 20 minute hike).  A guy from India that now lives in NYC stopped and picked me up on the way.  After I gave him directions to the wharf and to the petrol station, I think he felt guilted into asking me for a lift.  When I said "Okay" he soon after said "Well, that wasn't too far.  I should have just left you there to walk."  New Yorkers have a funny way of showing affection.

Back to the cruise...

So, I got on and went straight to the nose of the boat.  We left the wharf just before 9AM.  Because we were the first boat, the water was nice and calm.  I froze for a bit, but met some nice folks from Minnesota, and a couple from Argentina.  Man, this guy had the coolest eyes.  He looked like that child (now grown-up) from that famous national geographic cover (with the red hood and the bright green eyes).  Had I not felt way too silly asking, I would have taken a photo of him as well.  Nonetheless, we had some great conversation.  Turns out he just got back from a track as well, and had the same beautiful, snowy conditions we had on ours that one day.  He gave me some great tips about the glacier (glassier) hikes.  Apparently the "half-day" trip spends 3 hours on the trail; 1 hour on the glacier.  Whereas, the the full day trail spends a fair amount of time on the ice; goes much higher, and gets out of all the nasty, grey ice.  Looks like we'll be signing up for the full day.  Also funny, this couple said they were also doing the same hike we're going to be doing around Mount Cook, "Mueller Hut", that we'll be doing; likely around the same time.  Maybe we'll meet again.

On the cruise, there wasn't really much wild life to be found.  Go figure, the animals were smart enough to realize that it was "bloody cold" outside and to seek shelter elsewhere.  I got some good shots of the waterfall, and this one that I absolutely LOVE.  It has one of the mountains catching the sunlight taking up the majority of the frame on the right, and in the wee distance on the bottom left you can see other fjord-scaped mountains layering in shades of blue against one another.  I used a polarizer, so all the bush is vivid green, and the sky vivid blue.  Ah...more Mason Jennings.  This time "California".  Ha...how nice.

Well, I hiked back to the Lodge.  Since I was here yesterday, the staff knows my face.  I don't think they will suspect I am no longer a "lodger," which is excellent because the sand flies, unlike dracula, love to suck your blood during the light hours.  With any luck, that one girl will come back and play another mini-concert in the common room.  Otherwise...I'm sure I'll find good ways to use the next hour.

One of the Hut Wardens on the Routeburn Track told us about this video called Shadowlands.  They have it here in the gift shop and was very tempted to buy it, but I looked on Amazon and saw they have one used for 12.99 US (here it's $35 NZ); plus it would just be one more thing to haul back.  The cinematography looks pretty amazing.  I think it'll do a great job of showing you where we are.

Okay...I'm off now...
Cheers,
Ryan

All my friends are birds...

Last night was fairly uneventful (besides the important stuff like getting our clothes clean and dry).  Turns out you had the right time when you asked me what time it was here.  This computer (in fact all the computers here) are exactly 1 hour earlier (so Jude and I ended up missing the last ferry).  No worries though.  I decided to take the first small boat which leaves at 8:50AM (7:50AM computer time).

At sunset, Jude and I went down to the wharf.  We missed the shuttle because we were on the phone rescheduling everything, but it was a nice walk down.  I ended up going down to the water and getting some pretty great photos of the fjords.  Luckily I couldn't find Jude, which afforded me to find this cool spot where these trees had drifted up from the lake.  I kept yelling for him, but all I heard was some bird like whistle.  I kind of had a feeling it was him, but after 3 tries I figured he'd finally let me know where he was.  Wrong.  I decided to head to the Pub and on the way I hear "You ready?" from the tree tops.  Jude makes a pretty good bird.

After a couple "Black Beers" and some bad pizza, we played some darts and caught the shuttle back for the evening.

Well here it is, 7:30AM (6:30AM computer time)...looks like the breakfast cafe is open...I bet you know where I'm headed.

Cheers,
Ryan

Satisfaction is...

A bus rescuing you from sand flies at the end of a 4 day trail...
The padded seats as you look out the windows at the fjordlands around you...
The pre-made sandwich at the lodge (that is anything but another dehydrated meal in a bag)...
A long, hot shower with the mini scrubber your wife bought you...
The pure sight of a washer and drier...
The trash can to conveniently dispose of your "rubbish"...
The beer at the front desk (even if it doesn't taste like the IPA you'd expect from the label)...

After being outside and bouncing between huts for 4 days, it's amazing how much satisfaction you find in all the little things you would normally take for granted.

What a hike!

Turns out the huts are just a tad closer together than what I had thought.  Maybe I confused the Kilometers for Miles, or maybe I was just so excited that I didn't pay enough attention.  Whatever the case, I would say it was a hike made for 3 days.  However, the 4th gave us plenty of time to explore the various side trails, take lots of photos, and meet all kinds of interesting people from all over the world.

It's amazing how like-minded all these folks are from their different backgrounds and locations all over the globe.  And the few differences make for good comedy, whether we're talking about how the Aussies say [Feesh and Cheeps], the New Zealanders...where everything is "Koo", or how an American pronounces pretty much anything...compared to the Europeans, Aussies, and Kiwis that make up the majority here.  I've gotten the impression that some of the locals just want to hear us talk...they seem very amused by our accents.

More about the trail...

So, the first day we got bussed to trailhead by a pretty sarcastic Kiwi.  He was so excited to be a bus driver.  He referred to it as a dream job..."it's pretty much one of those where you just have to wait around until somebody dies.  I'm so lucky."  Anyways, we started off the hike with a Kiwi named Simon who taught us the expression "Sweet As", which pretty much means "I hear you" or "I agree with what you're saying."  Pretty soon after the cameras came out, Simon went on ahead.  Jude and I snapped pictures of the various bridges, and the beautiful turquoise blue river.  Wow!  When we got to the cabin, Jude and I left our packs and went off on a side trail that took us through this beautiful golden meadow and river nestled between the mountains.  I got to test out my boots, and yes...they are in fact Waterproof, which was very comforting to find out.  We found a couple of duck mates, one with a black head, one with a white head, that were pretty entaining.  Also later that day, we learned about the Sand Flies.  Man, I have a feeling they are the sole reason the people here invented the expression "bugger".  They suck your blood like mosquitos, and are absolutely everywhere in the valleys in Fjordland.  I haven't counted but I bet I have 40-50 bites so far.  Anyhow, that night Jude and I got excellent rest as we were the only two in the hut.

The next morning we woke up and packed off for more uphill to our next destination - Routeburn falls hut.  When we arrived, it was freezing cold.  We quickly changed out of our wet clothes (it rains a lot here) and struck of a game of Rummy in the common area.  We got terrible sleep that night - we shared the place with about 20-30 others.  At some point in the night we heard this loud THUD next to us and then another BANG and a SCREAM.  It sounded like someone fell off the top bunk.  Anyways, we never did find out exactly what happened, but people were pretty wrestless after that.

The next morning we woke up to a fresh layer of snow.  It was absolutely beautiful.  And the view from the hut overlooked the mountains and previously-golden valley we had hiked through the day or so before.  Jude and I got an early start that morning.  We enjoyed tramping through all the new snow...and making the first tracks.  Although I did break one of my hiking poles, which was a bit of a bummer.  About 2-3 hours after we took off, we reached the "saddle" where the wind was really going wild.  We took a quick break in the shelter, but realized we needed to keep moving.  We hesitantly made our way up "Conical Hill" which is the absolute highest summit near the trail.  It was a cold, icy, slippery way up, but the top rewarded us with views clear across Fjordland.  It was so unusually clear, we could see past the Tasman Sea, all the way to the Ocean, and could see the waves breaking on the sand bar.  From there we had a really long day of hiking, and even though we were descending...it felt like we were always climbing...and climbing large stone stairs for that matter...which made the pack feel that much heavier.

The fourth day was an easy one, and we got to the hut just before the downpour, which lasted all night.  The early morning greated us to a full moon on the lake, and pretty soon we reached the end of our hike.

Well here we are now, at Milford Sound.  From the Valley the Mountains look unbelievably huge...they are SO FRIGGIN STEEP.  They're no where near as tall as the Rockies, but they look perceivably look bigger - just because of how quick they rise from the valley floor.  You can even see the glacier (pronounced "glassier") on the peaks.  Jude is out building piles of stones and getting eatin by Sand Flies, while I finish my second New Zealand beer.

I love you all and will write soon.  Wish I had a way to upload some of the photos...

Cheers

Ryan