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.

New Zealand: The Tongariro Crossing

New Zealand is an outdoor "persons" wonderland. A set of islands that seem to possess just about every landscape imaginable and a culture built around taking full advantage of that blessing. The country is about the size of England, or slightly smaller than California, but with a population of around 4 million it is composed of relatively few cities and towns and an inordinate amount of sparsely populated, gorgeous land.

We arrived in Auckland December 29th, and after spending an evening walking the cities hillside districts, we promptly boarded a morning bus towards our first natural glimpse of New Zealand. The North Islands Tongariro National park is home to three neighboring volcanoes that dominate the plateau skyline and, when weather permits, make for unique hiking excursions. The area was used in the Lord of the Rings movies to recreate inhospitable Mt. Doom & Mordor, and it carries that feeling much of the crossing although as a whole the park is more varied. The Tongariro crossing trail climbs around 2500 feet, between the Tongariro summit and the conical Mt. Ngauruhoe. Along the way you cross the flat moonscape south crater, along the rim of the active red crater, beside several striking emerald lakes in what is otherwise desolate land and then down the backside of Tonagariro through grass hills with views to lake Rotoaira.

The hike is extremely popular and noted for its crowds but with mixed weather forecast & the New Years holiday, we were lucky enough to have only a intermittent line of hikers along with us. The 25-30 mph winds added to the alpine feel and despite calls for rain the spotty clouds only temporary blocked the exceptional views. All in all, we couldn't ask for more from a New Years eve and despite the long hiking hours we even stayed awake to see the close to 2007.

The trout filled river outside the town of Turangi

Walking across the south crater

Hiking above the south crater with Mount Ngauruhoe in the background
Red Crater

Lunchstop along the Emerald Lakes

The hike home

The most hoppin bar in Turangi New Years eve. We took this one around 10pm.

Namsom & Nong Khai

Nong Khai

When travelling, especially for an extended period, there is always a balance sought between spending quality time in one place vs moving on to the next in order to feel that you are taking full advantage of your surroundings. It’s a personal choice. As a whole our travels have had us on the move, though still compromising some countries/destinations we would have liked to visit so that we could dedicate pockets of time for certain areas and the people living there, a little bit more intimately. Volunteering as an English teacher is an excellent way to achieve that goal and is what brought us up to a NE Thailand, a less frequented corner of the country, for the last few weeks of December.

Our volunteer program, Travel to Teach, is headquartered in Nong Khai, a midsize northeast Thai town that rests the width of the Mekong River from Laos. We shared a two story home in the center of town with fellow volunteers from Scotland, New Zealand, Holland, Germany, and the States for our kick off weekend, completing a short culture & language orientation, sampling the local sweet sausages and even joining a birthday party for one of the friendly local T to T employees.

Our volunteer school was actually in the small town of Namsom 3 hours from Nong Khai. Nong Khai served as our base for the orientation weekend and then again, following our two weeks of teaching, as a convening place for the Christmas holidays.

Joyce, a Travel to Teach coordinator and her boyfriend Prik, at our Christmas Eve dinner.

It felt like Christmas in the corner of our room, thanks to a care package from home and some gifts we bought for each other along the way.

Skype with Christy's family on NY's Christmas Day (our Dec 26).

A sculpture garden in Nong Khai, built around the 1970's. Prior to Thailand, this artist was asked to leave Laos, for his controversial dramatic style.

Namsom

Namsom is one of the last places you’d pick to visit in Thailand. It doesn’t appear in a single guidebook. It is of reasonable size, 2000-3000 population, but has zero tourist infrastructure; Not a single place that offers a bed for the night. We couldn’t even find Namsom on a map until we came across a wall sized regional map in the Nong Khai volunteer dorm.

These are all qualities that make it a perfect place to visit as a volunteer. Besides us, two other volunteers stayed in our comfortable, hammock filled home “Ban Farang”:translated-house of the foreigners. For our 2 weeks there, we were the only westerners we saw in town, with the exception of one former volunteer staying with a friend and a few non-thais who had married locals. This brought a level of novelity to our visit and much hospitality from the locals. They offered us meals, called out “hello-hello” as we biked by,and excercised much patience on the badminton court.

A standard day:
7:30: Wake, eat cornflakes & yogurt & bike to the secondary school a mile and a half away.
Optional:
Wake an hour earlier to donate food to the monks that walk through the neighbourhood.
8:45: First class starts. With the Thai teacher’s assistance (usually) lead the class through Christmas songs, a play The Enormous Turnip, basic conversational practice or games of “Hangman”, which could lead to splitting the class into two teams for family feud style challenges
9:45 and 10:45- more class same as 8:45 11:45- Lunch with the English teachers at school.
Sometimes early afternoon dictation drills with the kids or on one occasion, take over classes for a teacher who doesn’t show.
Lunch-6:00: Check and write on internet, bike around town, stopping at the local market we’d pass numerous times a day, read on our balcony or indoor hammock and on one occasion, teach Monks English at the nearby Wat.
6:00-7:00: Bike down to the Night Market, the evening gathering spot, for dinner and games of badminton.
9:00: Town is quiet, ride home while the packs of dogs collect to take over until sunrise.

Though 8500 miles from home for the holidays, we managed to bring Christmas with us with decorations and presents in our room, to calls and emails to friends and family home. From the beaches in early November, to Pai set near the jungle in the north, spending Thanksgiving in the hilltribe village and then this immersion experience in the Northeast most of December, we have had a spectacular visit to Thailand and feel we saw the country through a range of lenses.

Teaching at the Namsom Secondary School

Every Friday morning, the whole high school does aerobics together.We spent only one day teaching at the Primary School, because the rest of the two weeks was "Sports Day" where they had parades, festivals, races, etc. Very different then how we remembered our elementary schools!

We also taught monks one afternoon, helping with their English.

Sunset from the pagoda in Namsom- some 700 steps from town.

Dion offering food to the monks at 6:30am. Monks only eat once a day (before noon) and only food they have collected as they do here (someone at the monastery collects the various things and makes a meal for everyone).
Christy with her new friend Joy, who lives in town and family owns a clothing store by the night market. Joy is trying to move to NYC to become an au pair so they spent many afternoons working on her application, and English, to prepare.
These photos give a feel for the Namsom neighborhood. A temple surrounded by a "lake" was the center of town and across from the nightly market.

Eating Pad Thai at the night market

Badminton was the nightly event.

The night before one of the volunteers left, we had a dinner party with some of the Thai locals we had met.. this is our living room taken from the 2nd level, and without the usual hammocks
The hammocks helped make the house very comfortable.

Our Final Travel Route through Thailand & Cambodia