November 13

Renee squeezed in an 8 miler around the lake which was not that flat. She scared some cows and rabbits while running then had to watch out for cow pies. Elaine had quite the spread for breakfest. We enjoyed some conversation and then headed to Te Anau to pick up some groceries, fuel and our tickets for the Routeburn and Kepler tracks. We started our beautiful drive on Milford Sound road and finally found a parking space at Divide- the start of the Routeburn track. And guess what? The sun was shining! This is the only day in NZ that the sun has shined all day. The climb was steady and the trail conditions were 100% better than Lake Walkaremoana. We saw some beautiful falls, lots of streams, and lots of people. Even though the sun was shining, we were very ready to be done. We may be getting hiked out. The weather forcast was looking good until evening the next day so we were thinking we might take a chance and camp again. We arrived at Lake Mackensie hut and the. Had to walk another 10 min to the campsite. We enjoyed the view for a bit and then made our butter chicken meal that was spicier than expected. The tent space had a turf piece on it so that made it softer to lay on. Living the life! We got into our sleeping bags before 8….before hiker midnight. It was too cold to be outside and nothing to do so we just stared at the tent walls.

November 12

Our mission today was to drive to Queenstown between 10-12 hours south. We got going at 6:45am and it was still raining. At some point we did actually get our sun glasses out.

Highlights:

– all the various scenery

– Huge lakes

– trickle stream #1 & #2

– names for culverts and everything else

– Renee drove for the first time in NZ

– pancake rocks and blow holes

our Airbnb stay with Elaine and Rich at Cromwell was fantastic! They made us tea upon our arrival and gave us good ideas for supper. When we got back from the pizza place, they invited us to watch “Telly” with them. They used to be guides on the tracks around here so they had lots of info for us. They were very hospitable and they made us feel at home. We each got our own room which was awesome. We watched a millionaire dating show which Rich enjoyed a lot.

 

 

November 11

A short drive took us to Kahu Kayaks to start the days adventure. We got there at 8:15 am and we didn’t actually get on the bus until afte 10 am. We got a very thorough safety and water briefing and got out on the water. It was nice to use different muscles to kayak but found we tired easily. The views of Adel Island and the beach were really awesome. It rained off and on but wasn’t cold. Before we got to destination beach we had to go through the “mad mile” which was more tricky maneuverings. There were rocks where the waves crashed and water splashed over our kayak. I didn’t ever feel like we were going to capsize but was pretty focused on steering and paddling hard. Salt waters from Alison’s paddle mixed in with the rain to drench Renee but we both got equally wet. We landed at Anchorage Bay (all the way to Alaska!). There was a bit of sun so we had some lunch and hung our clothese on the line to dry. But it started to rain again so we washed the sand off our feet and started hiking. As We hiked the 4 ish hours back to Marahau it rained off and on but mostly on. We sang on the way back which made the time go quickly. There were gorgeous views of the beaches and the trail was well maintained – not nearly as much mud. We were soaked when we got to the car as it was raining pretty hard by that time.

We got back to the cottage and took nice warm showers and settled in for the evening. We grilled sausages and finished off our ice cream that had melted into a frothy concoction. The evening seemed to last forever. We contemplated going to be as early as 8 but watched TV and updated the blog until 10. It rained all night.

November 10

Renee tested out her foot today on a three mile run. Not great, but she didn’t have to stop. Really hoping it’s not a stress fracture.

By ten we were on the road to Wellington, the last trip with this car. On the way we saw a sign that said “drive fresh”. We pondered what this might mean, drive awake? Out on deode rant before driving? We decided it must mean ‘don’t stink and drive’.

As we neared Wellington we realized we were running out of time. It has been raining pretty hard and we were slowed by it. We made it just in time to the car rental and she dropped us off at the airport. Jet star had kiosks and we could even print our baggage tickets. We didn’t even have to show our id to anyone as we didn’t have to go through any security. So we went in search of our gate and found it had been delayed by about 40 minutes. Whew! The 30’minuts flight went by really fast and the car rental from Hertz was smooth. We found our plae to stay was close and we were on our way. The cottage is so awesome! It was a private room with a tv and Internet and really nice hosts. Their little girl wanted to show us around. It is a beautiful eating with lush gardens in Riwaka. We went to a nearby town to eat at Armadillos bar and grill and enjoyed some schnitzel. Groceries were purchased, we came back, ate ice cream and vegged. We are so glad to be on the South Island!

November 9

Election day in the US! We watched some results as they came in and. Watched in disbelief that Trump won the nomination. We may stay in New Zealand.

In the morning we enjoyed some down time before heading out the door at ten am. Sandra took us toTe Mata, a lookout over the area, the ocean, Hastings and Napier. We nearly got into an accident on the windy narrow road up there. Sandra says she runs up there! More power to her! We were still moving quite slowly from our hiking adventures, but it was good to get out a bit. Sandra’s car is a two door and low so Renees entrances and exits were never very graceful into the back seat. We then headed to Napier for a look at the beach, shipyard and some shops. Alison purchased some jade and we did some other window shopping. We went to a pond and emmer send our sore legs into the refreshing water. On the way back we ran into some tell take signs that we were not supposed to get ice cream. First we couldn’t find the ice cream shop in Napier. Then in Hastings we arrived just as they were closing. We had 30 minutes to get to the Strawberry Farm before it closed and when we got there their ice cream machine had just been turned off. There were tubs available but I couldn’t use my card and our cash was in the the car. All the while time is ticking away. Thankfully Sandra picked up the tab and we were finally able to get our ice cream.

While in Napier we went to the #1 rated toilet in 1998 for cleanliness. It cost twenty cents to use it, it was kind of like a museum.

Our evening consisted of watching election results, laundry, eating and Renee trying to upload photos onto Facebook.

November 8

Despite rats or some other large animal running around on the roof all night we managed to get some good sleep. The hike out was once again muddy, but it wasn’t raining so that made it bearable. There were slippery rocks still and at some points we gave up and just tramped through the mud and water, having it come in our shoes from the top.

We each made a list of our sore spots. For Renee it was mostly on her right side: side of foot, pinky toe blister, plantar fasciitis, side of calf, then shoulders, inner thighs and left kidney from her pack. Alison had hips, knees and a blister on every toe and her back.we were quite the pair. This is the first hiking trip where vitamin I has been my friend. I hate covering up pain, but it has helped me get through.

Eventually we came across some people coming the other direction and they told us our water taxi would be early if we want it and that our pick up point was just an hour away! We thoughts it might be another two hours, so that was the best news we heard all day! We waited just half an hour for Zach wig the water taxi and three others joined us. Two were from the UK and one from NZ. Zachary told use the black swans we had been seeing are a nuisance because there are so many and you can only shoot them with a shotgun and they don’t allow shot guns in the park. So they breed without check. The water taxi ride was wet and windy but we got back to the car, changed while shivering and proceeded to plug up the camp shower drain with the mud from our clothes as we washed them out.

We then drove to Hastings and stopped at McDonald’s to get a mates hunger buster. It was two big macs, two cheeseburgers, fries and drinks and we got a mc flurry. Our hiker hunger had come one full blast. Getting out of the car was quite a challenge as we were both quite sore. We must have been a site!

We arrived in Hastings around six and met Alison’s friend Sandra. We chatted away the evening and enjoyed Tim tams with tea. It is so nice to sleep in a real bed after two nights one he trail. I think we’ve gone soft!

November 7

Alison woke up before Renee which is quite unusual. No one else was awake yet either. By 7 we were getting our stuff packed up and eating our granola protien bars for breakfast. One of the guys gave us some tea, which was really nice since we didn’t bring any hot drinks. Out the door by 8am and on our way. It was already raining and it kept raining ALL DAY!! 2 hrs to the next hut that should have taken us 4 hours. We decided we were making good time and so we took sometime at the next hut to dry out our stuff. We made a fire to warm up and toasted our socks. While we were there the NZlanders caught up with us from the night before and we ended up playing  a couple rounds of Yhatzee. We couldn’t find a pen so we used M&Ms for the markers. We couldn’t keep score so we were all winners!

When we started hiking again it started raining again but we decided to detour to some waterfalls. It was a soggy, muddy mess to get there but we managed to smile for a picture at the falls. We picked up our gear at the shelter where we had left them and headed on. The next few hours were excruciating! Mud like we had never seen before almost took us to our knees. Muddy shoes and slippery rocks and roots don’t make a dsgood combination. Alison did go down a couple times. Frustration mounted as our campsite was not seeming to come. There are no markers between huts and campsites so you have no idea how far you have to go. We would look for a campsite around every corner which is exhausting. Our bodies were failing us and our minds were not far behind. The rain and mud didn’t help. The Maruni campsite finally came into view and we rejoiced. We Immediately changed into dry clothes As darkness fell, we set up our tent in the shelter. It fit between  the wall and the sink. After a warm meal of Mac and cheese with tuna, we fell into bed.

November 6

The day started with a 6 mile run for Renee and Alison catching up with Internet things. Grocery shopping for the trail and thenwe were off to church. Maria led singing and it was fun to worship in a new place. We had to skip out early though, as we had a several hour drive to our hike. The drive took longer than we thought and after several false starts, we figured out where we needed to be for pickup to get to the start of the trail. We parked our car and Big Bush shuttle took us to the start of the Wakeremoana great walk. It was actually quite lucky that the shuttle arrived as he was nots planning on picking us up. We started up at 3:30pm. And we mean up. People had told us it could take us up to 9 hours to get us to our destination  we hoped this wasn’t true as we would have arrived at midnight. We knew it was only 8.8km so we knew it couldn’t be too bad. What we hadn’t realized is that when we looked at thee legation gain it didn’t say feet but meters so instead of going 600 ft we gained 1800 ft. No wonder we were feeling so out of shape. The sign said the hike would take 5 hours we were happy to report it only took us 3 hrs and 45 min. That included some breaks. We arrived at the Paneke hut as it was getting dark and started making our meal of teriyaki chicken. There were 5 guys there already 3 Germans and 2 native NZ who had spent some time in the states. The one German fellow, quizzed us about what was happening in politics and in general had good conversation. He says he can’t decided where to live Germany or NZ. Hiker midnight hit around 9 but we both read for a bit.

November 5

Sleep, glorious nine hours of sleep! We pulled ourselves from bed to get the day going. Renee went on a run in the countryside. It felt like a spring day in south Dakota. The sun was shining and there as a decent breeze. She even found a gravel road to run on next to cattle that just glanced her way.

We lingered as long so we could and then started the trek to Gisborne. Alison remembered to drive on the left without too much prompting. She did have a bit of trouble turning on the wipers instead of the turn signal though.

Once again we saw mountains, coast, farmland and windy roads on our four hour drive. All but getting lost in Napier because of an inadequate map, then rip was fairly uneventful. The road was closed for a triathlon. Renee thought it would be fun to do a race while here.

We finally arrived in Gisborne and didn’t have any trouble finding Maria’s house. Alison’s caught up with Maria about what has happened in their lives since Mercy Ships and then we headed to a family reunion/bbq. Evidently there was a holiday today that  prompted  fireworks. Food was enjoyed and Renee voted. We also got to cuddle some guinea pigs. We stated laundry and headed to bed. This traveling stuff is exhausting!

November 4

Sleep finally came after the clock battery was removed because Renee didn’t want to be counting the seconds she wasn’t sleeping. 5:30 wake up call and a quiet ride to the bus station. We boarded the bus without incident, yeah for one thing going right! We settled in for a 5.5-6.5 hour bus ride to Picton.

The bus had quite an eclectic group of people. Two guys with dredds and a guitar, several newlywed couples and some backpackers. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and body were our constant companions for the ride. And no, it wasn’t our bo – we think. Backpackers don’t care much about hygiene but we hadn’t been out on the trail yet so w were safe.

The views were spectacular – we went through mountains, vineyards, and along the coast. The pictures of course don’t do it justice. There re yellow bushes and trees that looked like they had been planted in rows. The Christmas tree potential was enormous. The hills in some parts looked like they had carpet of bushes/grass, really uniform. I couldn’t see any rocks, the vegetation was so think there is no way I woud want to bushwhack through there!

On one of our comfort stops we got some food from the Why not Cafe and enjoyed a muffin and minced meat pie.

At Picton we caught the Inter Islander ferry to Wellington. It was very warm on the outer deck, but once we got started it cooled off considerably and we donned all our clothing. We went inside to warm up and some mild sea sickness led us to take some naps.

We docked in Wellington and a guy practically pushed us into his cab to take us to our rental car. His rig was tricked out with disco balls and lights. He told us all about Wellington as he dropped off his customers. Our first hint that our car rental might be a problem came when our taxi driver had never heard of the company we were using. The second hint was that the hotel manager of the place we got dropped off didn’t know what we were talking about either.

After 10 minutes of searching for a phone number we finally got someone too pick us up and take us to the rental place. Evidently Expedia had an old address on their site. Once the paperwork was signed we began the process of learning to drive on the left side of the road. The car rental agent probably thought we would total the car before we left the lot. Alison did all the driving and Renee tried to navigate. After a couple of false starts we were on our way. Driving in then ark on the “wrong” side of the road was nerve wracking but afte four hours we finally made it to our host stay around midnight.

On the way we stopped at a gas station for some vittles as were feeling a bit peckish. We settled on what ended up being basically bacon bit puffs. Alison had a steak pie but Renees sandwich seemed to be more like a butter and onion instead of egg salad. Maybe it is popular in NZ?

We had the best host stay yet. He even called us to see when we were coming and directed us in. I think he realized we were tired, frustrated and ready to be there.  He was very welcoming. The house was amazing, so big. The bed were so soft that we went to bed immediately.