Erin & Nate's World Trip

So as you can tell, Nate and I are not the best bloggers. Maybe it's because NZ is like candy for outdoor lovers, or maybe it's because we are truly on our budget kick and it's expensive to use here. Either way, we may do massive dumps at once, but hope we don't detract from the dramatic scenery that is here in the south island. It's really hard to believe that we've been traveling for a month. We forgot to include some things from the beginning of our trip (Milford Sound area), so we'll include them now. Sorry for the non-chronological ordering, but we are newbies at this blog stuff. What we've done in the past 30 days:

-Hiked 15 days
-Slept in eight huts, four campgrounds, one hostel, one jail (which is now a hostel), one B&B, one trailer, and one house
-Figured out the best backpacking food program (well, at least thus far for dinner): miso soup, cheddar cheese, rice noodles with canned chicken and peanut sauce, fresh brocolli/zuchinni (yes, Anna!), chocolate hunks, hot chocolate avec whiskey (Nate likes his straight)
-caught some big fish...more to come
-pulled our own mussels off the rocks for dinner twice (go budget travelers!)

We hope that 2009 is off to a good start for everyone. For Christmas Eve, Nate and I found a carols service at St. Peter's in Queenstown, where we were able to sing Christmas carols amongst the massive number of overseas travelers as well as the locals as well. For Christmas Day, we BBQ'ed in the park and camped before taking off on the Rees-Dart track. We missed being with our families and loved ones for sure.
As for New Year's, we rung it in with Cory and Camella up in their beautiful mountain house in Makarora, just outside Wanaka (pop. 40). Nate and Cory played all his records and we cooked up a wonderful meal. Nice to be with friends in a beutiful place. Happy New Year's to all. Hope 2009 is a good one, full of adventures, laughter and memories. The first video below is from a recent track up the Cascade Saddle. The pictures following are of Cory and Camella's house in Makarora in addition to a hike we did on the 4th of Jan. Miss you all!

Erin took this video from Key Summit, which is a high point near the end of the Routeburn Track - one of the 'Great Walks' in NZ. The tall, pyramid-shaped peak is Mt. Christina, which to my knowledge is the tallest mountain in Fiordland National Park. After hiking for three days in mixed weather (rain, sun, some fresh snow ), the weather forecast called for clear skies and we decided to make a sunrise run up the hill. The effort paid off. Although there was a good deal of fog moving down the valley that morning, we were granted the occasional unobstructed view of the craggy, glaciated peaks that characterize New Zealand's Southern Alps.

The trek itself was fabulous, both in scenery and in structure. Hikers arrive at a spartan hut at the end of each leg of the trek, which are essentially open kitchen and common areas attached to bunk rooms. Quite a nice change from the typical soggy-tent backpacking that we usually did in Seattle! Each hut is located at a beautiful nook along the trail, either along a river, up on a bluff overlooking the valley, or nestled up against an alpine lake. We met some really enjoyable hut companions along the way, which was especially nice on our one rainy day.

In all, the trek took us five days (we liked up the Routeburn with another track called the Greenstone), and we arrived at our final destination thoroughly tired but extremely happy for the experience. We are spending the next few days relaxing and gearing up for our next trek, which will be another five-day trip up into Mt. Aspiring National park. Supposedly you can see some impressive glaciers along the way, so we're hoping the weather cooperates!

Merry Chistmas to you all!

We made it to NZ. Cory Williams, a good friend of Nate's from Alaska, has been hosting us along with his girlfiend, Camella (from the UK). We've only been here a few days and can already tell it's an outdoor paradise. Nate drools when seeing the rivers and I gawk at the glaciers and turqoise waters. It's been a great start. Cory and Camella took us to the beach the first day (Haast) and then we took a short hike on day 2 along the Wanaka Lake. We've been so lucky to stay with friends and have dinners and long conversations every night.

How do you pack for this long of a trip? Nate and I have been talking about it since we first decided to go and after multiple debates, we did it! Here's the final tally of goods for 1 person:

-3 pairs of pants (including 2 skirts for Erin)
-2 pairs of shorts
-2 long-sleeve shirts
-3 short-sleeve shirts
-1 down jacket
-1 rain jacket
-1 sleeping bag
-1 hostel sheet (thanks, mom!)
-3 pairs of shoes: hiking, running and chacos
-5 pairs of underwear
-5 pairs of socks
-limited toiletries (and only one pair of earrings for Erin!)
-head lamp
-beanie
-visor/hat
-digital SLR (thanks, Moms and Dads!)
-external hard drive
-iPod
-Flip (thanks Seattle friends!)
-book
-journal
-lots of medications (high altitude, antibiotic, malaria, etc)