Apt.

I thought that our apartment was small until I saw this. Our apartment is great. Except that 7 Kuwaitis live upstairs and across the hall. They don't scare me, but someone is bound to call the NSA when they notice all 7 guys pouring out of the apartment late one night like I did. Then we will all be raided and I live with a black dog and a Iranian girl. I know that these guys are Kuwaiti because their wireless network is "the real kuwaiti". Unless the DUI dwarf that lives downstairs has a great sense of humor. The people above like to move furniture and run in circles. I think that is what they do. I can't imagine what else makes so much noise. When they bounce balls I have to pound on the ceiling to remind them that they are not outside. But then again, it has been so cold outside that Lando and I occasionally play fetch inside, so I am not perfect either. I have also been spending time on the bike trainer and I doubt that is quiet. I finally saw the guy that lives underneath us for the first time in 6 weeks. It was about 12:30 at night and he was walking his dog. He was very friendly, looked to be about my age and was missing teeth. I hope that meth wasn't the reason for the missing teeth. Maybe he is a cage fighter.
This time last year, we were adventuring around New Zealand.

My first time.

Beautiful Breckenridge.

We left Boulder yesterday after going for a bike ride with David of BimBamBoo. We slept in the Wal Mart parking lot in Frisco with no problems. It was our first time just pulling up to a place and going to sleep. This morning I got to get up and ride to Vail Pass. It was raining, but I didn't want to let anything stop me. The rain was intermittent and after being wet and cold for an hour, I made it to Copper Mountain. The weather looked worse ahead so I decided to turn around early.

Here is the path up to Vail Pass.

It was stunning. I followed a stream (with I-70 on the other side) uphill for a long time. I was in awe of the views every minute. There are great paved paths all around Frisco to all of the small towns nearby.

Copper Mountain from a bike.

We left Frisco and headed for Breckenridge. Walking around cute mountain town #2 (Breck) was fun. Busy, but fun. There are lots of tourists here in the mountains. We expect a lot more over the next couple of days. We were looking for a place to have lunch when we saw a fly fishing shop (Breckenridge Outfitters) giving away free Bratwurst. That enticed us in. We bought some flies, got some advice, and were on our way. The Blue River goes right through town here in Breck. We drove 5 minutes out of town and walked past a dozen other people fishing. We saw lots of fish and I thought that I was going to have to name this blog "If another fish spits out my flies...". Happily I don't. I caught my first fish today. Well I have caught lots of fish while fly fishing, but always with a guide. So this is my first fish without a guide. Mojdeh nailed one before we left Taupo. I hooked one, but never landed any. Today was my day. We even had a camera.

The walk along the river.

Hanapa'a!

Brook Trout.

 

The release.

In the rain.

The rain absolutely POURS when it rains here. We tried to stick it out, but the weather got the best of us. We will be going out later to try and hook a few more this evening. Thanks to Fishy Steve for teaching me so much during our trip to New Zealand. For those that care, we saw the fish becoming airborne trying to eat their food. They might have been going for some emergers, but the technique to mimic the emergers sounded difficult. I caught this Brook Trout using a #20 cannon bunny dun.

Almost over.

I leave for Hawai'i in two days. I can't believe it. I can't believe that I have been in New Zealand for 3 1/2 months. I can't believe that I have done so much here.

Another amazing day.

I can't believe that I got a job. Everyting in the news is about how bad the economy is. Everyone is being laid off. People can't keep their homes. Obama is having trouble getting his economic stimulus package passed. I am having a great time. I have had an endless summer since... February 2008 when I was in South America. Looks like that will continue until November 2009.

 I no longer have to beg for rides with strangers.

I have learned lots of Kiwi slang. I have tested my outdoor gear in all kinds of conditions. I can survive with the gear on my back for about a week. I want very little and need even less. That being said, I love coffee shops that offer free wireless internet. I enjoy Starbucks, but not as much as Rachel. I found a new passion, fly fishing. I have amazing friends all over the world. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. The more I think that I know, the more I realize that I know nothing.

 I had a lot of fun learning about NZ wines.

My life is great when I eat a lot. Traveling has made me appreciate good food. If you can't laugh at yourself, life will be miserable.

 

Good food and good friends.

I have been traveling for over a year, but I don't feel like it is coming to an end. I have learned that I love the beach and the ocean. It is difficult to swim with seals, but easy to outrun them on land. Going home to Kona will be my first vacation in a while. I watched "Into the Wild" and "Slumdog Millionaire" recently. I liked them both. SM imressed me more, but one thing that I remember from ITW:

HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.

Oops.

Last time I said that we need a guide for the fish to bite. It looks like Fishy Steve taught us a thing or two! This afternoon, we headed out to our favorite river (I am not allowed to disclose its location) for a fish without Steve. In the first ten minutes, Mojdeh hooked and landed the first fish that either of us have ever caught on our own.

Next, it was my turn. A big rainbow smashed my dry fly and I had never seen that before. It was very impressive. I fought him for a while and made every amateur mistake today. I still nearly had him and at the last minute, the line broke and he slowly swam away.

The one that got away.

Don't worry, there is a big fishing adventure planned for tomorrow as well!

Internet usage.

I have internet. It is too hot to be outside. You are warned to avoid the heat from 11-3 everyday. Summer is here. So we watch You Tube videos of Obama.

I also found this in the NY Times about surfing on the North Shore. If you have surfed there, you know it's pretty true. Except the beatings occur quite regularly.

Also, we put together a movie of us with seals.

Here is on eo fmy favorite things that I have seen in a long time. It is Sir Ken Robinson summing up a lot of what I think about our education system. Less drugs for students. Stop telling kids to sit still, let them express themselves creatively. I think that our education system was set up for a world that we no longer live in today. Come on Obama, let's make some more changes.

I like that Obama shut down Guantanamo. People here in New Zealand already like Americans more. There hasn't been much anti-American sentiment, but a lot of Bush bashing.

Anyone know of cheap rental cars on O'ahu?

Mountain Biking.

We had to throw in a little more adventure before we head out of Queenstown, so we went mountain biking yesterday.

Milford Bound.

Windy in Milford.

Leaving Queenstown and looking for something a bit more relaxing, we headed for Milford Sound. There is a famous walk here called the Milford Track. It is booked months in advance, but is supposed to be beautiful. To get to Milford Sound, you must pass through the small town of Te Anau. We stayed here for a couple of nights. We tried to camp one night, but the ravenous sandflies forced us back to town. There were thousands of sandflies trying to bore holes into us constantly. We set up our tent while being eaten alive. As soon as the tent was ready, they came inside with us. We clambered inside as fast as possible and spent the next half hour pressing the little annoying bugs against the inside of the tent until they squished. Their death would give us mild pleasure, but outside thousands more waited for us to open the zipper.

INTO a Miford waterfall.

This made us miserable, so we went back to town and complained about the great fishing we were probably missing. Eventually making it to Milford we booked an hour and a half cruise. It rains a lot in this area. It makes for hundreds of amazing waterfalls, but not a lot of outdoor activities. We spent just one night in Milford Sound then returned to Queenstown.

A small waterfall in Milford Sound.

We are camping on a tiny piece of grass at a hostel in Queenstown. Little did we know that we are the only straight people staying at the Hippo Lodge. They forgot to mention that in the Lonely Planet!

Sighting.

Also in the town of Wanaka is the Bullock River. This river used to have a trout spawning area so there is no fishing allowed. There are giant trout everywhere. under the bridge by the library, we found trout that were so tame, I could take pictures of them underwater.

THE bridge.

THE fish. 

Some were diva-ish and didn't like their picture taken, but some posed!

 

Beauty!

Here is where we are:

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Fox.

Lake Matheson was supposed to look like this.

This is what we saw.

Leaving Greymouth, the 3 of us headed for the glaciers. Franz Josef is the first glacier that we got to. It was pouring rain. We set up our tents hoping to camp for the night, but it was too wet, so we all piled into Avi's car and slept there for the night.

Sleeping in the car.

The next day we headed a half an hour away to the next glacier, Fox Glacier. There it was still raining, but the following day, the weather was nice enough to go for a walk on the glacier.

Avi and Moj cruising on the glacier.

Sometimes I compare myself to Moses.

Southward

We hitched a ride with Julian from Germany. He just graduated form high school. He worked for six weeks and made enough money to travel for six months. He bought a van for NZ$800 (US$500) that he sleeps in. That is quite common here. I really respect that so many kids pick up and leave their home country at the age of 18. He is traveling by himself and meets people along the way.

We made it from Nelson Lakes to the west coast city of Westport. Now we journey south. Westport was a coal mining town. It still is. Two nights was too many. Luckily they had a pool so we can start training for the tri season that we will be heavily involved in!

Keeping busy in a boring town.

Between the only two towns on the west coast is the not very exciting "pancake rocks". There we spent too much time looking at the rocks wondering what the appeal was. Then we hitched into Greymouth.

Me and the "pancake rocks".

Greymouth is another mining town. The town is pretty miserable. Again we found a pool. The best thing that happened there was that we ran into our old friend Avi that we met in Takaka. We had left him a couple of weeks ago. He was headed the same way as we were so he offered us a ride. Then he told us about a two day walk that was near the famous Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki.

Nelson Lakes

Nelson Lakes reminds us of places in Colorado. We are higher in elevation and away from the ocean. The days are hotter and the nights are colder. It is the busy season, but we still didn't have much trouble showing up without a reservation and finding a place to camp. There isn't much to do at Nelson Lakes, so we walked, fished, and relaxed.

One of our trails.

This might have been our first taste of what we have been told to expect from the dreaded sandflies. They are actually a blackfly. Those of you entomologists or fly fishermen would be interested to know that they are a midge. Either way, THEY BITE. The anti coagulants in their saliva help leave pools of blood when they are done feasting. There are millions of them on our tent. It sounds like rain when they can't escape and they bash themselves between our tent and rainfly. I thoroughly enjoy killing them when they land on me, but it never deters the others. We bought "army grade" insect repellent, but the welts continue to show up.

One of the lakes, with tea.

We have been warned that the west side of the island has heaps of these blasted creatures so tomorrow we plan to start our journey down the west coast. The West has also been described as stunningly beautiful... if it isn't raining.

Whisky (sic) Falls.

In the end, we had a few hours of sunshine, but never any relief from the sandflies. It rained and was buggy, so we left Nelson Lakes without having too much fun. Now we are in Westport, a small run down town that is left over from the mining days. The big attraction is the coal mine and processing plant. We are out of here tomorrow! Happy New Year.

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148km Canoe Trip

Leaving Taupo, we hitched a ride from a school principal out of town. Then an Aussie picked us up and took us to the small town of Turangi. From there, a Maori guy named Charlie picked us up (I think that he was pretty stoned). He was cool and like most Kiwis, he wanted to show us around. He showed us his tribe's marae. A marae is a gathering place when the tribe has a hui (meeting). They can gather for a funeral, wedding, or just to have a meeting. The tribe has a sleeping house full of bunks, a place to prepare food, and a large outdoor assembly area. Charlie dropped us off in Manaranui. (He was off to play music with a lady that plays ukulele.) A construction worker picked us up and gave us a lift into the town of Taumaranui. That was where our five day canoe trip began.

We are off!

We camped at a place called Cherry Grove just outside of town. There were no cherry trees, but a couple of rivers came together there so we tried out our new fly rods as well as the tons of flies, gear, and advice that Fishy Steve had given us.

 

Mojdeh with our flies.

A couple of tangles, no fish, but one beautiful sunset later, we went back to the tent. A giant local guy with a group of rambunctious kids in a mini van advised us on where to sleep as sometimes the local kids come down there to harass people and break into cars. We woke up the next morning with no problems during the night. We made breakfast and just as we were finishing our tea, a truck pulled up with a single canoe bouncing on the trailer behind it. We were going to have to river to ourselves! A guy got out and our conversation was something like this:


Dave: Hi, I'm Dave. What time did they tell you fellas I'd be here?
Us: They didn't.
Dave: Good, then I'm not late. Have you ever canoed before?
M: On a lake once.
R: I've paddled a bit, but
Dave: Good as wood, you'll be sweet as. Let's put this canoe in the water. I have some maps, but you won't need them. Skip the first campsite, sometime the local boys go down there and harass the campers. Right-o. Jump in, you're off! Just don't stack the boat. 

 First 5 mins.

There was more slang, but no subtitles in real life, however, you get the point. We skipped the first camp site like he recommended. As we rounded the corner to land at the first camping area, there were no local hooligans but three naked men in the water. Two scrambled to put on their shorts and the third jumped into the water. There is a lot of glacial melt so after a couple of minutes in the cold water, he decided to get out and just hold his shorts in front of him. We snickered a bit and kept paddling glad not to be staying there. The next campsite was deserted.

Just us and the river. So I did what everyone else does and took off my clothes. We never saw anyone else the first two days. The first day we paddled for about 5 hours averaging 7km an hour.

The second day the weather turned a bit and we got rained on for about 20 minutes. Out of nowhere the skies opened up and it poured. It is typical that shortly after donning rain gear the weather gets better. That was true while canoeing. We reached our campsite the second night as the rain began again. Luckily there is Dave's house where he lets everyone shower and use his kitchen. He wasn't there when we arrived, but he left a note telling us to make ourselves at home, so we made tea, got dry and waited for him. There is an old schoolhouse that has been converted to a Department of Conservation camping bunkhouse. With the thunder getting louder, we slept in the hut with a German and a Dutch girl. They were paddling for four days along the river. We awoke the next morning to the valley covered in fog and Dave running around in a towel. We made breakfast and chatted with Dave until the sun came out and we headed downstream again. Everyday we would stop to make lunch, fish, or just watch the river go by.  It still took us over 5 hours to go the 28km. Without a schedule, we could take as long as we wanted. The water was murkier than in Taupo and I have a million excuses of why we didn't catch (or see) and fish. Guides are amazing! We missed Steve.

 

Mojdeh likes to paddle.

The third night was very busy. A commercial operation had started that day with 4 adults and 5 kids. We arrived at another DoC (Department of Conservation) hut, but seeing the 24 beds, we decided to camp on the lawn. We met some cool people (there were about 20 people staying there) and had an uneventful evening.

The following day, we met a guy named Luke that was in a kayak. He too is from the States. He quit his job, sold his car, and is now traveling around NZ. I have an appreciation for people that are willing to do that. We paddled and talked for a while together. The large group was at the next campsite so we decided to paddle a bit further and avoid the crowds. It worked well. There was only 5 of us in absolutely surreal beauty. It took us 8 hours on the river this day. We paddled over 40km.

The last day we had less than two hours of paddling to the end. The 10km we had left went by pretty quickly. We were tired of sitting in wet clothes, eating dehydrated mashed potatoes, and already cooked pasta. We had instant noodles for lunch...every day. Finishing our five day trip felt good. Our upper bodies are exhausted, but strong!
Dave was going to bring our packs to us so that we could hitchhike to a town on the coast called Wanganui and eventually head to Wellington. From there we wanted to get on the ferry to the south island. Dave forgot our packs. A two hour trip in the opposite direction brought us to Slalom Lodge. Dave hooked us up with a free room and a bottle of wine to say that he was sorry for forgetting our packs. The weather was crap anyway so it all worked out in our favor. To top it off, Luke was staying there. We hung out drinking with him, found out that he had a car, and he was going to Wellington the next day.
We woke up hungover, drove a really curvy road for 5 hours and we all tried not to puke all day. We found a hostel that was completely full, except for their tiny areas for tents. The three of us set up camp, again, but this time in the middle of the city. At some ungodly hour in the morning every vehicle with a siren went blaring by us. That got us up early enough to enjoy the free breakfast by ourselves and head off to the ferry. Luke stayed in Wellington for the day and we went to the south island. Last night we stayed in a cool hostel that has free chocolate pudding every night, a hot tub, free breakfast, and cool people staying here.

Now we are off into the bush again. 5 days of walking and camping on the Queen Charlotte Track. No computer for a while. So, we are doing well. I will post again when we get back.

Fish vid

Thanks again to Fishy Steve and his family for their hospitality and generosity. We bought a couple of fly fishing rods while in Taupo. We got the TFO NXT series fly rods. Mojdeh got a pretty rod that part of the proceeds benefits cancer research. Here is a video of our fly fishing time with Steve.