NZ -- Friday 10/27 (Queenstown to Christchurch)

Today was another early day with a lot of driving. We drove all the way from Queenstown to Christchurch through Lake Tekapo. It was another day of striking scenery. It just never ends in this country. We made it to Christchurch and are staying in the Stonehurst hostel.

NZ -- Thursday, 10/26 (Routeburn Track)

Got up at 7:30 and hit the road today. Not a really long driving day. Just a few hours to the north and east up to Queenstown. It goes without saying that this is a very pretty drive. Made it into Queenstown alright and found a hostel called the Deco Backpackers Hostel.

We had a quick start and it’s not a long drive from Te Anau to Queenstown so we decided there was time to have an afternoon hike on the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn is one of the most famous treks in New Zealand and normally takes about 3 days to complete. It is in fact so popular that if you are going to stay on the trail overnight, you have to book a spot months in advance. The Routeburn starts about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown so we drove up into the mountains past Glenorchy to the trailhead. We found it alright and set off about 1 in the afternoon.

The trail starts by crossing a swinging suspension bridge which was quite a fun experience since I'd never been on a suspension bridge before. It then quickly enters what looks like a type of pine rain forest. This start area is dominated by large evergreen trees with lots of moss everywhere. The walk also travels along and across several mountain streams for the first part (as well as later parts of our walk). After several more suspension and wooden bridges we started to see glimpses out of the forest of the mountains above.

One interesting thing I saw was a new sport that I hadn’t known about before. On one of the wooden bridges that crossed a pretty impressive set of rapids and waterfalls we saw a guide taking a group of 4 people down the river -- through the waterfalls and all. They were using a combination of techniques – rappelling, sliding, or downclimbing – to descend the raging water. It looked like a whole lot of fun.

After a long, slow ascent, the trail breaks into its first breathtaking clearing. The trees cut away for awhile in an area known as The Flats and unobstructed views of the peaks above come into view above. Soon after this (a little over 2 hours from the start) we reached the first hut on the trek – known as the “Flats Hut”.

After the first hut, the trail turns sharply uphill -- the next hour proved to be much harder than the entire hike so far and really let us know how out of shape we were. Finally after completing this section and several more bridges we reached the second hut. Along the way, we passed perhaps the prettiest spot I’ve ever seen. On the side of the hill, just below treeline (or “bushline” as a local called it) the trees clear away and great view appears of the flats, now far below, and the peaks towering all around in every direction. Truly awe inspiring and impossible to describe. The pictures really don't do it justice.. Soon after this we reached the second hut – the “Falls Hut”. We hung out for about 30-45 minutes and after eating some food and checking out the falls we started back down.

A couple hours later and the hike was over. In all we were on the trail for 6 hours. We checked a map at the trailhead afterwards and we hiked 7 km as the crow flies one way, which probably means 9 – 10 km with all the curves each way, or 18 – 20 km total. Not bad for a quick afternoon hike. The one blister I got is one perfectly fine price to pay for this truly memorable hike. I would love to go back and do the rest of it someday.

NZ -- Wednesday, 10/25 (Milford Sound aka 'most beautiful place on earth')

The alarm went off at 6 am this morning. By 7 we were on a Rosco’s Sea Kayaking van heading toward Milford Sound. The drive between Te Anau and Milford is even more stunning than everything we’ve seen to this point. It climbs up to the divide and back down to sea level through some incredibly rugged mountain terrain. At the top the road goes through a roughly kilometer long tunnel that is very poorly lit (one light every 100 yards or so) and dripping water from the roof and walls. We stopped on the way up at a place called Mirror Lakes. They are a set of pools on the side of the road that in the early morning are completely calm and perfectly reflect the mountains above. Also in the van were a couple from Colorado who both grew up in Minnesota. It was fun talking to them after hardly seeing another American for the trip so far.

After arriving at Milford Sound, we were all provided with a full set of kayaking clothing and gear that we got changed into. After a brief explanation of how the things work, we were on the water. The sea kayaks we were in were the two-seater variety so me and Eric were in a kayak together. There were 8 – 10 kayaks in all in our guided trip.

It was a “bluebird” morning – as our guide Tex described it – as we set off. The sound is at least 10 – 15 km long and perhaps 3 – 4 km wide where we were paddling but it was calm as we set off. It was a great environment to enjoy the view. The cliffs rising out of Milford Sound really cannot be described. In the cliffs, several waterfalls cascade down. They don’t look too big compared to the cliffs towering above them, but the closer one we were told was 3 times the height of Niagara. We later got to kayak right underneath this waterfall into the mist and see it's power up close.

In addition to the scenery itself, there was a lot of wildlife to be seen. One interesting thing we saw was a penguin hanging out on the rocks. The real show, however, was a whole school of dolphins that we chased across the sound that ended up swimming right by us. They were literally a boat’s length away from us. They are quite large as well – nearly as long as the kayaks we sat in.

After a few hours of cruising around, we got introduced to “The Day Winds”. Every day in the early afternoon, the air on the sound between the valleys has been warmed sufficiently to be lifted up out the area and the cold air out on the ocean rushes in to take its place. The result is a literal wall of wind that comes crashing in and makes the water really choppy all at once. We went from calm water to 5 and 6 foot rollers in a matter of minutes. This was really intense. The wind blew hard and we had to fight through the waves to get back. I'm really glad we were in a kayak and not an open canoe. Got soaked through and through – which was fine thanks to all the waterproof gear they gave us to use. We made it through all right for an adventurous end to a great day.

After spending 45 minutes or so in the town of Milford we got back in the van and made the hour trip back to Te Anau where we ate a really nice dinner at the Redcliff Restaurant and headed to bed early again.

NZ -- Tuesday 10/24 (Dunedin to Te Anau)

Today was another day of a lot of driving. We drove from Dunedin on the east coast all the way across to Te Anau – the gateway to the Fiordlands in the West. We took the Southern Scenic Route along the Southern coast. Today was the day the scenery that was really nice yesterday got really, really good.


We stopped at two waterfalls as we drove through the Catlins along the south coast – Barss Falls and Parakaunui Falls. I think the water levels are below normal as I was a bit disappointed by the small amount of water coming over them. They were nice walks in to see them, however.


The further West we went, the more spectacular the scenery became. Perfect, pastoral farmland (mowed down to a nice lawn height by the sheep) lined the roads the entire way. As we approached Te Anau, the mountains got larger and larger and mile after mile went by of perfect scenes of perfect farms and rolling hills in the foreground which snow capped mountains in the background. The sun came out in full for the last 100 km or so of our trip that really highlighted the scenery before us.


Te Anau was also very impressive itself. A small resort town of only 7500, it serves as a base for the outdoor activities that occur throughout the region. It is on the shore of Lake Te Anau – the second largest lake in the New Zealand -- and ringed by mountains.


We found a place to stay at the Te Anau YHA in a tiny, but colorful room that unfortunately has too thin walls but otherwise nice. We spent the afternoon checking out the scenery by the lake and preparing for a kayaking trip tomorrow on Milford Sound. We also went to a local pub – The Moose -- to try a local drink.

NZ -- Monday 10/23 (Auckland to Dunedin)

Got up extremely early this morning – about 4:30 am and drove down to the Auckland airport. Eventually found our proper car drop-off point and made it through the relatively lax security (compared to what I’m used to back home) and got on our flight to Christchurch. It was a quick flight – just over an hour. Sat next to a friendly young guy from Christchurch who had been up in Auckland listening to bishop T.D. Jakes (or something) speak to his church. Most of the flight was cloudy but as we descended into Christchurch the clouds parted and we got a glimpse of the mountains to the west. I was very impressed. Actually, this is the first moment we used the adjective 'ridiculous' -- the first of many times over the trip.

After landing we called up Scottie himself of Scotties Rent-A-Center who picked us up and drove us back to get our car. This is a very laid back country we were quickly learning by this point – he swung by his place on the way to get our car to pick up his wife, Moira, to help him at work. When we got to the rental center we spent about a half hour watching as they pulled our car from out back (behind about 3 rows of other cars that needed to be moved first). The wait probably would have been annoying in the States but these folks were so friendly I didn’t mind at all.


After finally leaving with our car from Christchurch – a 5 speed manual on the left side scarily enough – and driving about 5 minutes down the road we had our first mishap. After pulling over to get gas (in NZ you typically receive your car empty and then return it the same way) the battery failed to start us back up. So we had to wait for Scottie to come replace our battery, which he did and we were on our way.

Spent the next 5 or so hours driving south on and off the Eastern coast to Dunedin down NZ Highway 1. It was all pleasant farm land. Learned that nobody was kidding when they said NZ had a lot of sheep. They are everywhere. After a bit of a stressful start, I eventually got used to the manual shifting with the left hand and driving on the left side started to become more comfortable as well.

We arrived in Dunedin, this day’s destination at about 3 or so and found a decent hostel – the Manor House. We got a 4 bed dorm room but fortunately we were the only two that stayed in the room. Dunedin is a very interesting town of about 110,000. It’s either the oldest or second oldest British city in the country (I read both in different places). Because of this, there are a lot of large and old Colonial style buildings in the city center along with dozens of little cafes and shops.

Coming out of Dunedin is the Otago Peninsula. It is famous for how much wildlife can be found on it. Albatross, penguins, sea lions, seals, and many more animals can be found on it. We drove out to the end of the peninsula along 25 or so kilometers of winding road literally right on the Otago Harbor. At the end there’s a scenic overlook and visitor center perched high on the cliffs above the crashing waves below. Tens of thousands of sea gulls flew around the cliffs near by and over our heads. There also were many other sea birds of various species that I did not recognize swooping by. Far in the distance, I also saw several Albatrosses with their 11 ft wingspans floating on the wind.

Also while out on the peninsula, we stopped to take a penguin tour. For $30 NZ you can take a guided tour into a Yellow-Eyed Penguin reserve. The reserve is complete with underground tunnels, trenches, and viewing stations to allow you to get literally just feet away from the penguins in the wild. The reserve is also on the beach so if your timing is good (which ours was fortunately) you can watch the juvenile penguins return from a day of feeding at sea and wade up on the beach and back to their nests. We were lucky to be the only two on our tour (the next tour had 15 or so) and had a good time with our guide who was a really friendly, helpful guy named Dave. He showed us a few things he only shows small groups – like a nesting bird right by the path.

After the wildlife viewing we headed into the city center and took a quick self-tour of the train station and ate in a cool café and drank hot tea with milk – something I find myself enjoying here, even though I’ve always disliked tea back in America.

NZ -- Friday 10/20 - Sunday 10/22 (to Auckland)

My brother Eric and I finally left for New Zealand. Our plane left Minneapolis on-time at 5:15 pm on Friday, 10/20 and headed for Los Angeles. We arrived for what should have been a 2 hour or so layover but the 747 that was to take us on arrived later so we ended up waiting at LAX for around 3 ½ hours. When we finally did get underway, it was in the largest plane I’ve ever been on -- 10 seats across and 75 or so rows and 2 decks. This flight was a 12 hour flight, also the longest flight by far I’ve ever been on. Surprisingly, this was a really comfortable flight. I guess Qantas knows how to take care of its international travelers.

We arrived in Auckland at 8am on Sunday, 10/22. It was just an overnight flight, but since it crossed the international dateline, our 10/21 simply vanished. But no worries, we’ll get that day back when we return. We got through customs ok, despite having the guards hand search my tent and our hiking boots. They are very serious about not introducing foreign plant species so wanted to be sure our outdoor equipment didn’t have any seeds along for a ride.

We were greeted at the terminal by a man working for the rental car company – Scottie’s Car Rental (a branch of Advantage) holding a sign with my name on it. He was our first point of contact w/ a New Zealander (called 'Kiwis') and he was very friendly. I had reserved a car to be picked up and dropped off in Auckland but he helped us arrange a domestic flight tomorrow morning to Christchurch where we’ll pick up a car and drive it one-way back to Auckland. This should save us several days of driving and the money saved by only having to take the ferry once will completely offset the money spent on the domestic flight (only $95 NZ each w/ tax).


An unfortunate American couple who traveled with us to the car rental place were having a rough start to their trip and giving the poor rental car man a bad day as well. They were a bit upset by the delays in processing (locals don't seem to always be concerned about doing things as quickly as possible) – on top of the lost luggage they had – and when they finally left with their car they came back 5 minutes later with a flat tire. “It’s always the Americans” the rental car guy muttered as they rolled in.

The problem was with driving in the left lane. He took a round-a-bout too tight and hit the curb. I don’t blame him. This is my first time driving on the left side of the road as well, and I must say it has been a pretty harrowing experience on my first day. Feels like I’m 16 again learning to drive all over again – constantly thinking about what I’m doing, hitting the wipers instead of the turn signals since they're on opposite sides of American cars. I hear when people return from NZ they get the opposite problem since they’ve acclimated to the left way of doing things.

Today was a pretty boring day. Once we found a hostel (Oaklands Hostel) we basically just loafed around and walked to a few cafes. The most exciting thing was a trip up to the top of Mt Eden. It’s an old volcano a few blocks from where we’re staying with incredible views across all of Auckland and a giant crater at the top.

We’re both extremely exhausted now from traveling and have been fighting to stay awake all day to ensure our sleep patterns match up with the day and night correctly. We’ll be going to bed shortly (6 or so) and will have to get up early (4:30ish) to catch our flight tomorrow to Christchurch.

(Not much for pictures w/ this post as neither of us took too many in Auckland)

New Zealand Part 1

I have made it back from two great weeks in New Zealand. Words don't describe how beautiful this country is. The only adjective my brother Eric and I kept coming up with that seemed to come close was "ridiculous".

Here a few pictures of general NZ goodness..more to come..(Be sure to click on them for larger views)


On the shores of Lake Te Anau


On the road from Queenstown to Christchurch. This is what the whole 5 hour trip pretty much looked like.


Thermal Hot Pools near Turangi


A stream by the Routeburn Track


A lake (Lake Pukaki I think) on the drive from Queenstown to Christchurch. I didn't mess with the colors -- it actually looked like this. Just about all the water is as blue like this.


Trout fishing at the "Trout Fishing Capital of the World" on the Tongariro River near Turangi. The minimum size there to keep a fish would be a fish of a lifetime here.

"Inigo Montoya, your burger is ready."

I've been in Mesa, AZ since late Sunday night and will be here through next Wednesday. This trip is a more typical work trip, unlike my previous trip to Folsom, in which I am traveling alone. It is also my first return since my 2 month stay this past spring. The major difference being that I am staying in a nice Marriott Residence Inn instead of the more hole-in-the-wallish Homestead Suites I was at before. Even though this hotel is much nicer, I still find myself looking down the roads that go back to that old hotel though since that direction still feels more like home to me.

I am also guitar-less on this trip. It's making me antsy. I feel like I don't know what to do with myself after work. What I've done is hung out at the Gold Bar coffee shop a few nights so far. Cool enough place to waste a few hours online. I was saddened to find out the Essenza Coffeehouse that I enjoyed so much this spring has now been closed. I've got really good memories of that place -- mostly the coolest open mic sessions I've been to. I was even all pumped up to head out to this Friday night's session and borrow a guitar and play (heh -- easy enough to say now that I'm off the hook for it, of course). I've also bought a couple of books. One is 'The Piano Shop on the Left Bank' which is pretty good and interesting to me now that I'm learning piano myself. Another is a Kurt Vonnegut novel -- I don't know anything about him or the book but have heard his name enough times that when I saw the book at Borders, decided it was time to give it a go. The last is a story about a guy who walked across Afghanistan a month after the Taliban fell. Should be good reading.

Long blog post -- this isn't my style and these 5 minutes are more than all you readers will spend combined on this, so time to end. And in case you're wondering, the above quote is what I heard tonight over the speakers while enjoying my Fuddruckers burger while the 3 young guys at the next table burst out laughing to go get their burgers. It was pretty funny..

Rex's Blues

Here's me singin' my favorite Townes Van Zandt song...

Rex's Blues

Or to use the online player

Townes Van Zandt:

Lake Tahoe

On Wednesday after work, Brent, Aaron J. and myself drove up the hour an half into the Sierra Nevadas and up to the city of South Lake Tahoe. One of prettiest drives I've been on -- compares with anything I've seen in Colorado even. S. Lake Tahoe is really cool. Lots of shops and old buildings all right on the shore of Lake Tahoe with the mountains all around it. South Lake Tahoe is in CA and Lake Tahoe is in Nevada as the border goes right through town. It was pretty funny to see casinos built literally _right_ up to the Nevada border.

We were only in town for 2 1/2 hours. We ate at the Lake Tahoe Brewery which was pretty good and then walked into the Harrah Casino (since we parked only a a block from the state line) and each gambled and lost about $2 in the quarter slot machines.

The Word from Folsom

I've been in this eastern Sacramento suburb since late Sunday night. Got in late that night -- to bed sometime around 2 or so I think (pacific time, which was 4 central). This was after not getting much of any sleep Saturday night so I've been pretty tired these first few days.

Interesting thing happened tonight after supper. There are 6 of us stayin' in this hotel. We got back after eating and all 6 of our room cards had quit working. We all ended up meeting back at the front desk, unknowingly and shocked as we realized what happened. There must have been a weird magnetic disturbance or something at the restaurant.

Went to the Powerhouse Pub tonight as well (I have a big "PHP" stamped on my hand now). That is a cool bar (karaoke night tonight as well). Got to see alot of the classic california types tonight. Alot of pretty girls, alot of guys goin' for the pretty girls, and alot of not so pretty girls with a pretty girl attitude (or the 30-40 year olds trying to pass for the 21 year olds).

Two more working days than I'm flying back Friday morning.

Superior Hiking Trail

Haven't updated this in awhile so figured I'd upload some pics from my recent Superior Hiking Trail trip with Adam, Eric, Lee, and Nate. Four days, about 25 miles. Very hard work for me. I'm not in the best shape and I think I looked like an old man by the end. But it was fun and we all made it.

Jackie Greene Show Download

http://www.streamjackiegreene.com/fido.php

Very good quality mp3's from a show in Folsom, CA on 7/22 (I was in Folsom, coincidentally on 7/24 -- just missed it).

Also Jackie will be on Conan tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

HitoriConquest.com

I've been working a website these past few weeks that you should check out. It's at http://www.hitoriconquest.com . Hitori is a Japanese game vaguely similar to Suduko that involves numbers in a grid. Hitori is a bit easier than Suduko in my opinion but still can be fairly challenging. Check it out! There's a link on the page that explains the rules..

Tim Easton

Went to see Tim Easton at the 400 Bar last night with Dan, Hallie, and Eric. All I have to say about it is, and I can't stress this enough, don't miss a Tim Easton concert when the opportunity arises.






Speaking of concerts, there's alot of good (and cheap) ones coming up:
Scott Holt 8/18 Rochester
Jackie Greene 8/23 MN Zoo
Danny Schmidt and 9/7 St Cloud
Kelly Joe Phelps

All of these musicians are really good.

Pauline-Astrid Boulders (Part 2)

I returned to the boulders this past weekend with Eric J that Eric, Jared, and myself discovered this spring. We took a brush cutter and chainsaw this time and cut a trail in from the creek to two of the future bouldering areas. If you have never cut a trail in before, just know it's plain and simply really hard work. Do it in July in northern MN when all the bugs are out and you could say we're crazy. Nevertheless, the trail is in and ready for us to return in the fall to clean and hopefully send the problems. After returning, we are both more excited than ever about the prospects of bouldering in this area. There are hard lines to be had and loads of potential.


View of the cave from the trail. The bottom of the cave right above the trees is about 8 feet off the ground.


View from the left side of the cave.


View from the left side of the overhanging wall. (Further down the trail from the cave)


View from the right side of the overhanging wall.

More pictures at :My Flickr Account

Bass Guitar

Matt brought over his fiancee's (Deborah) Bass Guitar a few days ago and I've been learning how to play it. Pretty cool. I don't think I can live without one anymore. Even the simplest bass part really fills out a song.

Everyone who reads this blog has probably heard this song by now, but here's a new version of it (recorded in it's entirety in the last hour an half or so):
Lonesome Roads

I also put a bass track on Crystal's at a Bar but am in the middle of re-doing the vocals on that one so won't upload that yet.

Bluegrass Jam

Went to a beginner's bluegrass jam at the Homestead Pickin' Parlor tonight. That was pretty fun. Definitely a new experience. There were 5 guitarists, 3 mandolinists (that a word? maybe it's 'mandoliers'), a banjo player and a fiddler. I've never really tried to play bluegrass songs before so thought it'd be cool to try. At least one other guy was a first timer, too. Let me tell you, it is pretty challenging for me to try to remember the chords to all these songs I've never even heard before but it was great practice, I know.

Crystal's at a Bar

Here's a song I wrote down in Arizona.. Needs some drums but it's coming along.

Crystal's at a Bar

Let me know what you think.

Fingerpickin' Guitar

I think I might actually be in the middle of writing my first fingerpicked guitar song. Which is about time as I learned to fingerpick the guitar sooner than I learned to strum it. Took me a very long time to be able to fingerpick anything interesting sounding while singing. I think it's going to be my first legitimate love song (as opposed to love-lost -- I have several of those). But who knows what will happen. I don't know yet if it will be any good.

I hope to post a few songs soon.

Perlman-Astrid Boulders

Last weekend I went camping up north with Eric Johnson and Jared Waterworth and we discovered a _lot_ of rock up there.. What follows are a few pictures of what we found. The best areas I don't have pictures of as I didn't have my camera when we found them. You have to boat into these boulders, the area is beautiful. The boulders are scattered around the lake. There is potential for alot more than what we've found so far.

Probably 2 easy warm-up lines close to the campsite. 10 or 11 feet tall.


A big, cool wall in the same area that looks too featured, but worth some more exploration.


Another area across the lake. This just might be one of the classic lines in the area. Will sit start in the cave and climb straight up and out.


Eric jumping for the top of the cave.


A nice wall to the left of the previous line. A number of fun looking, easier routes up this one, and a traverse.


The campsite.

Not pictured is the biggest area where we found a huge roof with a number of potential lines and a 10 degree, 18-20 foot tall overhanging wall that probably had at least 5 lines up it, all looked classic and bold of various difficulty. These 2 spots are both on the same 200-300 yard cliffband that will probably produce a number of other problems as well.