The Catlins & Dunedin

Heading out of Milford Sound, we drove away from the mountains and toward a windblown beach and Celtic green bluffed coast. The “Southern Scenic Route”, at times the main highway wrapping the southern tip of the island, was a tight two laner and only sometimes paved. The Catlin Coast attracts New Zealand’s rare penguin and sea lion colonies as the surrounding seas merge into the sub Antarctic waters eventually (being the southernmost part of New Zealand). Christy was curious to see these wadlers for herself after hearing about Dion’s sightings in Antarctica last year and was quickly enamored with the knee high Yellow Eyed Penguins swimming ashore after feeding in the frigid waters. Unfortunately our photos do not do justice (and not posted) as our non-intrusive viewing perch for these particularly shy penguins was quite high up from the beach.

A two hour drive from where we stayed on the Catlin Coast (Owaka) is the city of Dunedin where we spent two leisure nights, January 25th and 26th. Dunedin- Gaelic for “Edinburgh”-the capital of Scotl and carries an old European feel with its Gothic restored Cathedrals blanketing corners. Our hotel cleverly named Hogwartz, from Harry Potter (JK Rowling wrote the novels in Scotland), was actually the Bishop’s home for 137 years and had many grand views of the majestic cathedral, St. Joseph’s, across the street. As we sought out wine in Marlborough, rice in China and curry in Thailand, we not surprisingly drank a lot of beer in Dunedin, in Scottish tradition. The Octagon: center circle of town lined with restaurants, bars and live outdoor music was a great place to spend a sunny Saturday, sharing pints with the locals and lads celebrating “Aussie Day”. Down the street from Hogwartz is Speight’s Brewing House which gives a fun and informative tour of the 130 year old brand- and makes an Old Dark and Apricot Harvest brews we wish were imported home…they’re not.

Driving the Southern Coastal Route around the base of the South Island. The wind was not blowing fierce this day but the trees permanently lean from a constant sea breeze.

This fur seal was a tad perturbed Dion stepped on his turf.

This photo gives a feel for the grassy, Southern coast- very different than the mountainous West Coast we drove a few days earlier.

Overlooking Nugget Point (named after these rock formations that resemble gold nuggets). We saw penguins at the neighboring bay after this walk- as the penguins emerge from the sea roughly 2-3 hours before dusk each night (ie. 7-8pm this season).

Sunset from our Backpackers B&B on the Scenic Reserve

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin and view from our loft at Hogwartz

Celebrating Aussie Day (the hat is rewarded to those tables that drink 5+ pints in the course of the day)Tasting at Speight's Brewery... the following day

Fiordland

Almost the entire Southwest corner of New Zealand's Southern island, 12,500 square kilometres, has been defined a national park. Despite that size, Fiordland, with its spongy rainforest, snowcapped peaks and hairline Fiords possess about as much scenic grandeur per area, as anywhere the country. This has brought deserved recognition; the UN has declared nearly the entire region a World Heritage Area, and it’s a stopping point for just about any tourist.

The accessible Milford Sound attracts a high concentration of those visitors. For many a boat ride along the misnamed Fiord (a Sound is formed by rivers while Fiords are carved by glaciers, often with dramatic benefits to future photographers) is worth the park visit alone. 400 foot Waterfalls that splash into the dark waters help build an appreciation for the magnificent scale of the mountains that surrounds you.

We set aside 5 days in the park, which is also an enclave to 3 of the 8 NZ Great Walks, 14 other Fiords, and a skyline full of mountains. Enthused by our day in Abel Tasman we kayaked the quiet islands of Lake Manapouri one afternoon and set off on the 3 day Kepler track in the remainder of our time.

Our first day on the track we walked through a beech forest along lake Te Anau before climbing 2500 feet to our 1st hut just above the tree line. When the weather is good the second day it is considered one of the most scenic in the park; it is almost all along an alpine trail with views from ridgelines & saddles. Counter to the trend of most our trip, we were unlucky with the weather that day. Cloud cover,wind and rain made it a wet 6 hour walk surrounded in white. The last day of the 33 mile route brought us down a valley of moss carpeted rainforest, along the shore of a second lake (Manapouri), the bank of a large river and finally over a swingbridge to the exit point. Even though we missed the touted 2nd day views of the tramp it was an impressible trip, especially for Christy, who the next afternoon was already pitching for another overnight hiking opportunity. You won’t hear Dion complain about that development.

Which way is up? Reflections on the road to Milford Sound

Dion asking for trouble over a glacier fed stream.

Just another Milford Sound Waterfall

Can you find the 120 foot boat with 90 foot masts?

Morning in Milford Sound

Bearded man & Christy ready for a few days on the trail

Views the first dayon the Kepler track

Christy keeping an eye on the inquistive Kea, New Zealands alpine Parrot.

Views the 2nd day

Hardened Sherpa Christy: asking if she can carry more & thinking this weather is the tropics compared to Rochester winters.

Back down into the Rainforest

Just a few miles left

Queenstown

If there is an adventure capital city within a country dedicated to such pursuits, it’s Queenstown. Situated on the Northwest corner of the deep blue glacier Lake Wakatipu, the homes wrapping up the hillside make it an idyllic spot.

The lakeside city center is home to numerous adventure tour operators that offer a menu of thrill-seeking activities including canyoning, rafting, jetboating, every conceivable way to free fall and, for speed on a different scale, you can even sail aboard New Zealand’s sleek America’s Cup yacht NZL14.

Numerous bars, inviting restaurants and what we consider the best hamburger joint in the Southern world adorn the center of town. The $8 per burger price tag at Fergburger puts it in a different category than In-N-Out (California) and Dick’s (Seattle), but the Little Lamby (Prime New Zealand lamb, mint jelly, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli & tomato relish ) and Bombay Chicken (Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a chilli, ginger & coriander yoghurt with cucumber raita, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli & mango chutney) had us return for 2 breakfast burgers the morning we drove out of town.

We spent three days here appreciating the views, nearby hiking trails and the burgers.

Taking a lunchbreak during a day hike along the Routeburn Track

Christy taking a bungee leap high above Queenstown....

....just kidding about the Bungee jumping Mrs. Aprilano. That picture is as close as either of us came to the "sport" on this trip.

Christy, all 100lbs of her (rounding up I"m sure she'd clarify), did somehow manage beat Dion in a Luge race on the tracks above Queenstown.

View of Queenstown from the luge track

A Queenstown sunset

This is New Zealand

Franz Joseph

The west coast of New Zealand is ragged and windblown, in sections resembling some of the scenic Big Sur coastline we drove this summer. Having rented a car to see the south island, in a sense, we’ve brought our travels full circle from those beginnings of our trip.

Halfway down the coast is Glacier country- home to Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers, the steepest and fastest glaciers in all of New Zealand. Tuesday morning, January 15^th, we joined a guided glacier hike on Franz Joseph. 8 hours later, as we sat at the foot of the lower ice steps unbuckling our crampons, Dion deemed the day as one of his TOP single experiences over the entire seven months.

The day started with a trail hike that opened to a glacial river bed leading to the imposing face of Franz Joseph. The glacier appears as a white river of ice nestled between jagged mountain peaks. It grows almost impossibly large as you walk toward it. We climbed onto the ice and gained our comfort on a well maintained section with clearly defined routes.

Two hours on the ice and the real fun began. We were given ice axes (glamorized walking sticks in this situation) and led to the Defiance Crevasse. As the glacier is incredibly dynamic, for full day excursions the guides will often find and, with their ice picks, create unique paths up the glacier. The highlight of the day was shimmying our way through ice enclosures. One passageway was not even a body length wide with deep blue ice walls and frozen overhangs dripping like rain. The guide’s knowledge of the glacier and skill at capturing its explorative nature made the trip for us.

Franz Joseph glacier on the approach

Following our guide up the ever changing route

Up further we go

Squeezing through a long crack

Young Mountaineer Christy climbing her way out of the ice

And finding her way between more

Reuniting with a few friends, Ed & Alma, from our time in China.

Abel Tasman National Park

Since nearly every town in New Zealand a gateway for scenic hikes New Zealand's park service has deemed it necessary to distinguish eight and name them the "Great Walks". The Tongariro Crossing, which we did 2 weeks ago is a portion of one, another is a 51km coastal trail in Abel Tasman National Park.

Wrapping along forested ridge lines speckled with palm tree size ferns, the trail connects gold sand coves & inlets with cliffs of soft granite rising from aquamarine water. The park is also home to several fur seal colonies protected by marine sanctuaries. The coastal trail is extremely accessible, for better or for worse, and water taxis will shuttle you to various points within the park. Using that service we were able to get dropped off and walk the lower Northern portion of the trail (23 of the 51km), stopping at as many pools, sandbars and rocky ocean overlooks as daylight would allow.

Our second full day in the park we rented a kayak for what is arguably a preferred view of the coastline. The tides are large here, in excess of 12 feet, so the water scape changes drastically in the course of 6 hours. As we paddled home we came across a raggedly sculptured granite island rising from a v-shaped deserted beach that was just beginning to be exposed by the lowering tide. These sort of findings our the norm and make the area incredible for kayaking. Our only regret is that we didn't book a 3-day overnight trip that would let us venture further into the park uninterrupted from the moment we arrived.

Photos from our hike the first day along Abel Tasman's Great Walk trail.

Photos from our kayak day. We caught this sandbar in the last photo at just the right time. Tides had just began to reveal this beach.

Right before we left town, Dion noticed this sand bar and thought we had time to "walk" out and back before the water got too high. Maybe for someone tall... Christy was up to her waist in water by the time we got back to the beach!

Not a bad place to wait for a bus

Marlborough: Wine Country

Given New Zealand's abundant farming lifestyle, livelihoods tied to land, and the open armed graciousness often found in small towns grounded by nature, a volunteer program called WWOOF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers) is quite popular among backpackers in New Zealand. This organization supports a wide variety of homestays in exchange for help around the "farms". It was an ideal opportunity for Christy to fulfill her long time aspiration of "working"on a vineyard and Dion, always eager to get involved & his hands dirty,was excited to imbibe something new as well.

New Zealand has made its way on the wine map with Sauvignon Blancs, particularly in the Marlborough Region (on the South Island) where we did our one week homestay at Clos Marguerite vineyard and winery. Considered tiny among the other wineries in the region (approx. 3500 cases per year), Clos Marguerite is family run- by husband and wife, Marguerite and Jean-Charles, a Belgian couple who moved to New Zealand 12 years ago with their then 3 and 6 year old children.

For our stay, as Jean-Charles was in Europe, Marguerite and her two kids, Marin and Sybil were our ever so gracious hosts. Set among 20 acres of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir vines, on a terrace above the Awatere River, is their home, a small warehouse sized winery, a narrow field for their sheep and Max's therobred horse, and our studio/shed. The location was pinpointed by Jean Charles, who recognized that the self draining soil properites would be just right for the Sauvignon grapes.

Our seven days WWOOFING began with breakfast 7:30am at the house with Marguerite: yogurt with trail mix Cereal, toast and tea. Each day our tasks varied; plucking leaves from the Sauvignon Blanc vines was the most harrowing job. Fearful of pruning too much or too little, our pace was quite slow.. so we plucked on unrequested afternoon shifts and overall it took us 2 days for a job that would have taken any of them one. Another day we tidied root stalk, trimming the overgrown vines and lacing them into the support wires to grow properly and strong. Such behind the scene labor can not be glamorized and is therefore often forgotten when appreciating a glass of wine. It's these tedious, labor intensive, ache inducing details however that make family run wineries produce a quality and standard of wine lost in the "factory" imported wine we are most familiar with. Marguerite impressed on us how every single thing; from thickness of each layer of soil, to how much breeze flows within the leaves, to the ratio of grape skin pressed, helps to create each bottle of wine. We were not surprised to genuinely enjoy both their wines- far more even than the varietals we later tried when we did our wine trail tour. Fortunately for us, Clos Marguerite is exported to the US.. and quite popular. Wine Enthusiast awarded their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc an impressive 90 in their Nov 06 issue.

As it is summer here in New Zealand, daylight lasts until 9pm so each day we also relished the area by reading with the view, playing in the river, and riding bikes to the Ocean and along endless roads of vineyards and rolling hills.

The Clos Marguerite vineyard, winery and family home
Our first two days were spent plucking leaves from the vines to allow for more breeze, yet careful to not expose the grapes to too much direct sun.

Working on other tasks: weeding the vegetable garden and cleaning the buckets they collect the grapes in come harvest time.

Wine was only part of our experience WWOOFING. Marguerite is a wonderful cook and therefore spoiled us with delicious dinners each night, usually coupled with a cooking lesson. "Tea"(aka dinner) was a group effort... starting with feeding the sheep, (eventually lamb we ate), pulling potatoes and vegetables from the garden, and grilling or cooking together in the kitchen. As our appreciation for homegrown produce grew (starting with reading Omnivore's Dilemma on this trip), it was a welcomed task to weed the vegetable garden two different days. Far from Manhattan and South Beach, we got our hands deep down in soil and felt the gratification gardener's get from destroying the pestuous invasion of weeds, and then eating the fresh, organic "fruits"of your labor.

Every night was a different, yet still spectacular sunset.

Our last day in this region of New Zealand we spent in Renwick, about 30km from Clos Marguerite where we rented bikes and did an informal tasting tour at 8 wineries. The highlight of the day however was our picnic by the river, with a newly purchased NZ Chardonnay from Bouldevines Vineyard.