A little video from the first half...

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Animal Foto-dump!

I though about having animals from the whole second half, but we saw most of the animals in New Zealand.  So here are the animals we saw in New Zealand:

New Zealand fur seal 

Kea, the world's only alpine parrot 

Fiordland crested penguin 

Weka!  These guys are cute and frequently seen on the south island (at least by us). 

Horses.  

Not pictured are the gazillion sheep and cows, several deer farms, and just a few alpacas.

Last two days of our trip

On our last hiking day on the Milford Track, we had a 5-6 hour hike.  Everyone had to make it to the end by 2:00 PM to catch the ferry to the bus back to Te Anau.  The hike was nice and mostly flat with some mildly interesting places to stop along the way.  Everyone stopped at the same place for lunch but there were a lot of sandflies so no one lingered long.  At the final hut everyone waited for the ferry together and there was a collective feeling of accomplishment and relief.

Once we arrived in Te Anau, we dropped off our rental gear and headed straight for Queenstown for some amazing burgers at Fergburger.  Seriously, if you are ever in Queenstown, have a burger at Fergburger, you will not regret it.  We stopped at a pub on the water to have a couple beers and listen to some live music.

For our last day in New Zealand we had a several hour drive ahead of us to Christchurch where we caught our planes in the morning.  We stopped at Lake Tekapo to get lunch and have an hour long soak in the hot pools to relax our muscles.

In Christchurch we ate at the same Indian restaurant we did when we first arrived in Christchurch two weeks earlier.  Since we didn't see Christchurch last time, we headed downtown to walk around and check out the earthquake damage.  There are still large parts of downtown that are not open to cars or pedestrians but there is also a lot of construction going on to get parts of it back up and running. It was crazy.  Then we went home to bed.

In the morning we left for 30 hours of flights back to Boston to end our seven month trip around the world.  Check back later this week for some trip end fotodumps!

Helicopter ride

The third day of the Milford track is the big uphill and downhill day.  It's the day that everyone hikes for two hours up to the Mackinnon pass then another five hours to Dumpling Hut.  For our group, all that uphill would take 30 seconds.  Due to the warm rain in the area, the avalanche risk was too high to allow us to hike up the trail and instead, we got a sweet helicopter ride.

The helicopter ride didn't take place until 11:30 in the morning and everyone was up on the high part of the pass by noon (there were 26 of us and one six seat helicopter).  There is no helicopter landing pad on the pass, so the pilot dropped us off on a grassy knoll.  All of our hiking packs came last held in a net hanging from the helicopter.

 On the pass is Mackinnon shelter, a lunch shelter for the hikers, and our refuge from the high winds and rain on the pass.

On the other side of the pass is five long hours of continual downhill.  Due to the high avalanche risk, we had to take the emergency path which doesn't cross over any avalanche paths but heads down the mountain at a steeper grade.  It was a slow grueling day.  At several parts we walked down a small waterfall or through streams that crossed through the path.

Around 4 pm we reached a day hut to put down our packs and to hike a side path to Sutherland falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand.  This path led to the bottom of the waterfall where we could and did stand underneath the roaring falls.  It was incredible.

The waterfall is 580 meters high

Back to the hut and another hour along the path, we reached the final hut.  After changing out of our wet clothes, we made dinner, listened to the ranger give his hut talk, and hung out around the wood stove with some of the Aussies and Kiwis before heading to bed.

Milford Track!!!

The Milford Track, the most popular hike in New Zealand. To start the track we had to take a boat across Lake Te Anau, and to get to the boat we took a bus from Te Anau.  The bus didn't leave until 1 pm, so we spent the morning preparing, buying last minute things, watching the film Shadowland at Fiordland Cinema, eating amazing pies for lunch from Miles Better Pies, a must have if you are ever in the area.  Andy had creamy chicken and I had vegetable and they were excellent.  We also split an apple pie for dessert.

The bus and the boat took about an hour and a half and by 2:30 we were on the trail.  The first day the hike is only an hour and a half (depending on how many picture breaks you take) and was a pleasant flat walk through the woods.

The warden of the first hut was Ross, a 6 foot 7 inch giant from Central Otago.  Dinner was a freeze dried backpackers meal and then off to bed.

In the morning we were warned not to leave until Ross gave us the okay.  It had rained a lot in the night and there was some chance of rivers flooding and avalanche.  At 9, Ross lead us down the trail for a couple hours while he waited to hear back from the avalanche engineers in the helicopter surveying the avalanche risk.  At noon, Ross gave us the okay to continue on to the next hut without him.

Catie, the warden at the next hut met everyone along the trail to make sure we were all getting on okay.  The trail was considerably more wet and there were at least two occasions where we had to walk through streams, soaking our shoes.  The last hour of the trail finally started heading up the mountain we were going to have to climb over the next day.  We arrived at the hut just in time for the rain to really open up and start pouring.  There were 25 people staying in the hut the second night and we spent most of the night getting to know half of them.

One of the Aussies told his story about sky diving naked and one of the Kiwis told his story of buggy jumping naked.  Catie, the warden, was energetic and really funny.  She imitated the sound of a female kiwi, which was hilarious (click here to hear what a female kiwi sounds like, then imagine a full grown woman making this noise).  It was a great group of people to be around.

We were warned that we will probably have to be helicoptered up to the top of the pass due to avalanche risk in the morning, but we would get the details in the morning.

Looking for kiwi on the second night (sadly, we found none)

Aotearoa

Next stop, Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook.  Andy and I didn't have enough time in April to visit Mount Cook and it was a must do this time around.  We arrived at Lake Tekapo around 10 in the morning but it was still another hour and a half to Mount Cook proper for the hiking.  At Mount Cook, one of the swinging bridges were being repaired so there was really only one hike available to us.  Sadly this trail was straight up the side of a mountain with hundreds of steps carved from wood and stone.  It was exhausting and less than two miles long.

We all made it to a giant rock outcropping about 2/3's up the path.  Stopping for a break and snacks we snapped lots of pictures.  Mom and I turned around and headed back while Andy and Wayne reached the top (or rather to cloud line, above which the valley isn't in view).  We all met back at the car, drove to Lake Tekapo and checked into our amazing motel overlooking the lake.

For dinner we ate at a Thai restaurant then went to the hot pools for a dip.  If you are ever in the area, check out the hot pools at Lake Tekapo.  There are three pools at three different temperatures, 36, 38, and 40 C, with incredible views of the lake and mountain.  It was a perfect way to end the day.

The next day we drove to Queenstown and checked into our motel.  Then headed along to Glenorchy, a tiny town at the north end of Lake Wakatipu (the lake that Queenstown is on), for our horse back riding tour.  It was a very eventful tour, with river crossings, trotting, and Wayne's horse rearing up and Wayne incredibly held on.

We saw a tiny part of one of the sets for The Hobbit (the new Peter Jackson version), through the trees and across a farm.

That night we ate at a great restaurant overlooking the lake and stopped by a bar with a fireplace on the way back to our motel for a drink and to warm up.

The entire next day was devoted to getting to Milford Sound.  We stopped along the way to get groceries and check out rented gear and taking pictures before arriving at Milford Lodge around six pm.  We tried to go for a walk after dinner but was swarmed by sandflies and gave up.

In the morning was our kayaking trip on the Milford Sound.  The company provided sweet kayaking clothes (imagine tight striped leggings and long sleeve shirt) luckily covered by a rain coat and kayak skirt.  We were dropped off about 12 km down the Milford Sound and kayaked back.  We stopped at two waterfalls, one of which we kayaked under, saw multiple seals, including one which swam along side our boats, saw two penguins, had snacks and tea on the water, and only got rained on towards the end of our trip.  Our guide, Abby was wonderful and genuinely interested in everyone's story and life experiences.

After our amazing kayak trip we headed to Te Anau for the night to prepare for our Milford Track Hike starting the following day.  At our hostel a Maori guy, with face tattoos and everything, sat in the living room area and played guitar and sang for several hours.  It was really amazing to hear him.

Land of the long white cloud

From Helsinki, it was just a short hop (two 10 hour flights and a six hour layover) to New Zealand.  We met up with my parents in Christchurch and, after checking into our hotel, immediately showered off the travel stink (specific to sitting in a plane for 10+ hours).  For dinner we headed towards city center and found a great indian place with excellent food.

We left for the northern part of the South island in the morning, stopping in Kaikoura.  There is a seal colony down the road from city center and we were literally three feet from a living breathing seal.  We stopped at a takeaway fish and chips place in some little town and had incredible battered fish with wedges, wrapped in newspaper.

Once in Nelson, our intended destination, our plan was to take a wine tour on bikes.  Unfortunately it was 2 PM and the bike place we went to wasn't even open for the season.  With little time left before the vineyards closed, we decided to take a driving wine tour with Andy being our lovely designated driver.  This area is known for its Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir and we had lots of excellent tastings.

One vineyard even had a rugby goal set up and we tried our feet at a conversion kick (essentially a field goal in football).

After dinner Wayne and I headed out for a bar.  This night was the Rugby world cup final and it was New Zealand vs France.  We followed the crowd to an excellent bar, watched until half time then headed back to the motel where Andy and Mom had fallen asleep (Andy on the couch) before the game had even started.

The next day we headed up to Abel Tasman National Park.  Andy and I had hiked a couple hours of this trail the first time around in New Zealand, so this time we all took a water taxi farther up the trail, then hiked back, allowing us all to see more of the hike than could be achieved hiking in and out.

Since we were leaving at low tide, the water taxi had to drop us off several hundred feet from the dock, which was above water, leaving us to walk in knee high ocean until reaching the shore.  It was an excellent way to start the hike.  It took us about four hours to finish the hike and after 15km, we were exhausted.  Dinner time!

Did I mention that this day is a holiday in New Zealand? This severely limited our dinner options.  In a town with three restaurants open, the first place didn't have availability, the second place looked shady, and the third place was a kebab house, which we ate at.  Turns out they had excellent kebabs.

In the morning we had a long drive ahead of us, although we hadn't realized it would be our longest day on the road when we started out.  We passed through Buller's gorge to the west coast where we drove along the amazing coastline for a half hour then turned back inland to head into Arthur's Pass national park.  Our intent was to do a hike or two in the area before heading down to Methven (the tiny town of choice for sleep that night).

It just so happened that it was raining when we arrived in Arthur's Pass.  Nevertheless, we stopped at the Visitor's center to ask about short hikes, picked our poison and headed out to the path.  We put on our rain gear, stepped outside the car and was almost immediately drenched.  Within the first 200 feet of the trail there was a stream crossing which would have been absurdly easy if it hadn't been raining for hours.  By the time we tried to cross it, it was just deep enough to completely soak our shoes if we tried to cross with no helpful stepping stones to keep our feet dry.  Andy and I were the first to give up before Mom and Wayne came trudging back to the car, soaked and defeated.

Once we passed through Arthur's Pass and were on the other side of the mountain the sun came out and the clouds cleared off.  Our failed attempt at hiking in Arthur's Pass led us to want to complete a successful hike.  Thus we stopped at Cave Stream Path, a little trail off the side of the road with amazing scenery.  It is named due to the stream that passes into a cave for part of it's path.  People are allowed to climb up the stream, through the cave to the other side, but we didn't have the proper equipment to attempt it.

With one successful hike under our belts, we checked into our little apartment in Methven, ate at a cute little pizza place, and watched a ridiculous VHS tape of a documentary of New Zealand that made you want to run and hide from the crazy hillbilly people showcased.

Scandinavia

Finland.  For me I think of amazing rugged coastlines and freezing cold.  We only got to experience the cold.  We arrived in Helsinki and made our way to our hostel, the youth hostel in the Olympic Stadium, used in the 1956 Olympic summer games.  It was the most unique location we have stayed in a hostel.

Our first full day in Helsinki was cold and overcast and windy.  We lingered in the hostel hoping the clouds would clear but by lunchtime we accepted that it was going to be a cloudy day, bundled up and headed out.  We walked along a well kept park next to a lake and headed toward city center.  Our first stop was Rock Church, a church built into a rock outcropping.  The inside of the church was all rock wall covered by a copper ceiling.  Once we were done admiring and warming up we decided we had enough for the day, skipped city center, and headed back to the hostel for the rest of the day.  We did have two more days to explore and hopefully it would be better weather.

Day two was slightly less cloudy and not much more promising than day one but we braved the weather and headed down to city center for real.  We got on a ferry to Suolmelinna, an island fortress just 15 minutes from mainland.  It rained while we were on the ferry but once we arrived at the island the weather cleared and we had a gorgeous sunny day on the island.

For lunch we headed back to mainland and found a fantastic little veggie burger joint not far from downtown.  The owner was from Israel but married a Finnish woman and started his business here.  He was friendly and chatty and asked us all about our trip.  If you are in Helsinki, find Vegemesta.

On the way to the tram we stopped at a cool looking church on a hill and the Senate plaza.  Over dinner we chatted with two German girls and a couple from Austria.  It was a pleasant and warm evening in the hostel.

For our last day in Helsinki we checked out the industrial design museum.  It was well done and interesting although a bit pricey for what you got.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the hostel eating and waiting for the airport shuttle for our 11pm plane (which ended up not taking off until 1am).

Prague and Germany… again

After spending four hours on a bus, we were excited to be in Prague and not on a bus.  Our established routine of checking into the hostel and buying groceries was performed and dinner was pasta, again.
In the morning we tried to buy train tickets at the train station but it was wicked expensive and we went back to the hostel to use the trusty internet to find better prices.  Turns out train tickets in the Czech Republic are not available online less than two days ahead of time.  So we bought another pair of crappy bus tickets.

With that settled, we headed to downtown Prague for some sightseeing.  Old town square was full of tourist groups congregating around the famous sights; the astronomical clock, the Church tower, and the town hall.  Charles bridge, the oldest bridge in Prague, was a pedestrian bridge only and lined with artists selling their paintings and jewelry.

On the other side of the bridge was Prague castle, Europe's largest castle complex (whatever that means).  The church in the middle of the complex had vibrant colorful stained glass that lit up the interior with bright reds and purples and blue.  Somewhere in the castle complex St. Wencelslas is buried and although we didn't definitely find it, we were close.  After our big day out it was back to the hostel for another dinner of pasta.

On our second full day in Prague we did laundry.  Very exciting.  In the afternoon we headed to Vysehrad, a hill fort on the southern side of town with views of the city.  It was cold and windy, but had great views and was relaxing to walk around.  To celebrate our last meal in Prague, we ate out for dinner.  U Medviku was suggested to us and was a great microbrew with excellent food.  I had a barley mushroom bake and Andy had pork potato dumplings and both meals were complemented by Budvar beer.

The next morning we caught a deluxe bus to Berlin and were served water and snacks while on the bus along with extra leg room.  Not as nice as a train but better than before.  Unfortunately the water and snacks could not make up for the fact that we were stuck in two hours of traffic and thus late arriving into Berlin.  Since this was our only night in the city, we went sightseeing in the dark.  Luckily Berlin was having a festival of lights and lots of buildings had fantastic light designs shone upon them.

In the morning we caught the slow cheap train to Hamburg and did nothing more than hang out in the hostel and eat out at a falafel place.  We were preparing for our flight to Helsinki the next day.