Routeburn and Queen Charlotte Tracks

We completed over 100 km of track alread and we've done both the beginning and end of our trip (both sounds)! There is so much more to look foreward to and we've hardly begun. Currently we are taking a rest day in the town of Havelock, the greenlip mussel capital of the world, and consuming as much food as possible. Here are a few quick highlights from the tracks and as many photos as I can get to (I'm working on uploading all of them to google drive and will share the link as soon as they are up):

Aliyah on the one of the longer "swing bridges" on the Routeburn Track. The first one made her cry but now she thinks they are fun.

Lush and green. Most of the forest floor greenery is actually tiny ferns, not moss.

A sleeping baby seal near Kaikoura.

A fur seal nursery up a creek about 300 meters from the coast. These little seals play all day in this beautiful waterfall pool without a care in the world.

Mother fur seal sunbaths with a lesbian pair of paridise ducks.

Our official northern start at Ship Cove. Behind us stands the Captain Cook Monument signifying a location Captain cook sailed to several times, very historical. 70+ km of trails ahead of us, the first 20 will be without packs as the water taxis drop them at the first camp for you!

More lush greenery in virgin forests. Red and silver tree ferns are like giant umbrellas and towern beach trees cling to the steep slopes. Epiphytes and ferns cover everyting. 

Rollin in style.

Amazing views of the sounds along the Queen Charlotte Track.

The first two days included rain, it ended with this rainbow as viewed from an awesome shelter along a ridge where we camped for the night.

Moving On

Currently killing time at the Aukland domestic terminal, T-minus 10 hours 30 minutes till our flight to Queenstown departs. We just got out of the beautiful northland countryside, a destination we will definitely be returning to. We had the good fortune to have two close contacts in the northland area to house us, show us around, and acclimate us to the lifestyles and customs of New Zealand. And as luck would have it, they lived approximately 10 km from each other!

Our first stop was at Aliyah's cousins' near Parua Bay. They had a sweet house overlooking a small bay a short walk from a little beach. We spent the first few days getting aquainted with the nearest city, Whagerei, where we did our supply shopping, shipping, getting a fishing license, etc. We also got out in the cousin's boat for an evening session to no avail.

The coming weekend was packed with seasonal activities including a touch rugby match in the donated cow pasture across the road and show day at he local elementary which where Aliyah's 6 year old cousin attended. Show day is like a county fair crossed with a 4H event; go-kart rides, scissor lift/paper airplane toss combos, bounce houses, crappy carny games, cow patty bingo, sheep sheering, lambs galore, awkward tween tribal dancing, lamb burgers while lambs watch, etc.

Then later that night, Guy Fawkes Day, as known in the US as that holiday depicted in the movie where Natalie Portman shaves her head. Essentially everyone in the neighborhood gathers in a field where a huge pile of debris has been mounded. An effigy is place atop the pile, copious amounts of diesel are applied, and the whole mess burns through the night and into the next day while the towns folk rejoice (get drunk, BBQ, and light fireworks simultaneously).

Sunday was spent in quiet reflection. Aliyah's second cousin-inlaw (older man married to Aliyah's mom's cousin, you tell me what he's called) took us to mount Manaia, a sacred mountain overlooking the town and surrounding bays. It was gorgeous with scattered clouds, bluebird skies, and dense jungly vegetation. We get a crash course in New Zealand natural and cultural history, glimpsing just enough to know that much of the native bush and old growth forest decimated at one point and only now returning. We learned lots of new plant names and enjoyed beautiful but windy views at the peak.

The next morning we departed the cousin's pad and moved down the road to Pataua South, another small collection of rural homes overlooking a large estuary. Again we were delighted to have to company of friends very close to my Dad who I had not seen since I was three years old. We shared lots of great stories and slow walks around the area, visiting secluded beaches, sacred mountains, secret fishing holes, cormorant colonies, and a glass blowing studio. And our guest room had a sunrise view overlooking the entire estuary!

Sadly we left the Eden with a promise to return and an entire adventure still ahead of us. Next up, kayaking Milford Sound on my birthday!

Pictures to come, having too much fun to upload now.

Enjoying Northland and changing gears

We went out fishing today with Aliyah's cousin Andre. He got off work early and took us out in their sweet boat. The weather and ocean were great but the target fish, snapper and kingfish, weren't to be found. We had a great time zooming around in the turquoise waters and rugged coatline of the northland area and look forward to returning after our tramp. The fishing has been off for several weeks as the summer temperatures have not found their way to the area. Andre says ocras will be coming into the area soon too!

On a similar note, winter weather continues on the south island and the threat of avalanches through several of the passes we had planned have us switching gears. The previous post, sound to sound, will still hold true to its name, just a bit rearranged. We'll still be heading down to Milford sound and hiking the Routeburn track as we have too many reservations booked that cannot be refunded. The Routeburn has one pass that has variable avalanche threats the stationed hut rangers will walk trampers through the hazard zones. If overall conditions are still too dangerous, a helicopter is standing by to fly trampers over the pass!

From there we are much more subject to the weather and will lack the DOC's support found on the Routeburn, so we've booked a free rental car out of Queens town to drive up to Picton and start hiking the Te Araroa from Queen Charlotte Sound south. Hopefully the weather will clear in front of us as we head down. At least we aren't in a hurricane...

New flies for a new country

Mouse fly, a first for me

My last couple days in the states were spent behind a vice, furiously tying the flys I could to ensure I had a fair supply and didn't leave any "must haves" out. One of these must haves was the mouse fly, a notorious big trout fly that I've never had the opportunity to try. Apparently, every 6 or seven years the south island has the right conditions to create an explosion in the mouse population. In turn, the fish turn their attention to the little furry bodies that frequently plop off the shore and swim frantically back. The fish tend to be huge and aggressive and the flies are fished actively on the surface creating some thrilling action.

The pattern itself is pretty simple, just deer hair spun around a hook; however, as John Gierach once described of bass bugs, the goal is to make the fly look as adorable as possible so that the scene of a huge trout crushing this little creature is all the more satisfying. I added some pink ears, beady black eyes, and rubber whiskers and hope to watch this little mouse get engulfed by a massive brown.

Sound to Sound

Amidst the dust and stress of packing moving out of our humble Richmond abode, I finished planning most of our trek. We are roughly planning to follow the through-hike conceived and constructed by the Te Araroa Trust but we have a few alternate paths or "tracks" as the kiwi's call them.

In general, Te Araroa south of Queenstown is a bit boring and passes through mostly farmland and has a fair amount of road walking - not my cup of tea. We aren't really invested in the idea of preserving integrity of the through hike (we are already skipping the north island) and we would rather take the time to explore other south island highlights.

Two of the main areas that the southern Te Araroa misses are the Fjordlands and Mount Aspirining National Parks. Fjordlands is notoriously the most demanding terrain to tramp in New Zealand and is also plagued by sand flies. The one track that is reasonably suited for all trampers is also one of the most popular and expensive in all of New Zealand. So I don't blame the Trust for by-passing this section in order to expand the accessibility of the track. Mount Aspiring, on the other hand, has tons of amazing tracks and breath-taking terrain not to be missed by the foot traveler and the Te Araroa passes around most of the park.

To compensate for these inadequacies, we've decided to start in Milford Sound (a large sound in the northern Fjordlands accessible by bus and boat) and head through Mount Aspiring National Park and eventually pick up the Te Araroa in Wanaka. Although we'll be getting to and from Milford Sound by bus, we'll be doing a kayak tour of the sound and the actually walking will start a short drive from the sound. The hike will eventually end on the northern coast of the South Island at Queen Charlotte Sound. Thus, sound to sound.

Milford Sound

Queen Charlotte Sound

I've taken the Te Araroa Trust's Google Earth file for the trail (shown in red) and added in some of the sections we'll be doing (shown in other colors) plus added place marks for towns we'll be stopping in and/or picking up supplies in. The start is indicated by a green place mark and the end in red.

I'm not sure what the post office situation is like there, but the TA's trail town information sheet says that the only post offices of any relevance to trampers are in Wanaka and Queenstown. This may be due to their capacity for holding large packages and mail would likely be available for pick-up in many other towns. All this to say that if you are interested and if you feel inclined, send us a letter or cookies. You will definitely receive a post card and extra kudos if you send homemade cookies across the world. Otherwise, you can just have some fun on Google Earth looking at our route. The kmz file is available for download below:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxdNdQ1F0SF2Z2V0WE50N21DQUk

Te Araroa, The long Pathway

As many of you know, Aliyah and I have made the drastic decision to quite our jobs, pack up, and leave the country for 5 months. Destination: New Zealand! What you may not know is that we are planning a through-hike, a hike that does not loop back to its original destination, across most of the South Island. Although New Zealand has a well developed backpacking and mountaineering culture and thousands of well maintained "tramping trails" as they call them, not to mention an extensive back country huts network, they did not have a continuous trail that traversed the length of their country.

Since 1975, kiwi's have wanted to develop this sort of trail but it wasn't until 1194 that a man named Geoff Chapple really got the ball rolling. You can read the whole history on the trail's website,
but the short story is that the trail opened in December 2011. A handful of people have already walked the distance of the country via the developing trail which links existing paths, new trails, property easements, and a few sections of road or boat rides. Now the trail is more or less complete and we are going to try a large portion of it; the "Lord of the Rings" section through the southern alps. The chunk we are attempting is well over 1000 km (620 mi) and we are adding several side excursions into some of the more scenic diversions including Aspiring National Park and the Able Tasman coast.

A typical view in Aspiring National Park.

We are flying out on the 28th of October, a date which is getting ever so much closer as we rush to get things ready. I quit my job a few weeks early to afford more free time to pack and plan, and so this is what I've been up to the last few days:

Maps, maps, and more maps. I love this stuff but it makes me crazy after a while.

 So, for updates on planning, our trip progression, and other kiwi news keep checking the blog as more addicted-style posts should be showing up every 3 to 9 days if I can keep at it. If not, Aliyah will also have a tumbler.

Ode to the kayak, the best boat I have ever known.

The kayak was originally conceived by the Inuit people who subsisted off the aquatic fauna of the inhospitable north pole. To the Inuit, the word kayak mean's "hunter's boat;" it was a vital tool for the survival of its creators and a symbol of their culture. While modern kayaks typically pop out of an injection mold, the kayaks of circa 2000 BC were framed by whale bones and covered with oiled seal skins. The hunter was quite literally sown into his boat by his wife who would tailor a fitted skin jacket tightly laced to the boat. This jacket formed the modern day spray skirts that enables a kayak and paddler to capsize the boat without taking on water.*

Although I wish I had a custom fitted whale bone and seal skin kayak, I don't think I could get around the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the sake of authenticity. Alas, my boat comes off the Malibu Kayaks factory line, seamlessly molded from dark green plastic pellets. It also lacks a spray skirt as the "sit-on-top" open deck design is self-bailing, virtually eliminating the risk of flooding. It is, however, designed with the original kayak's use in mind: hunting (or fishing as it were). My fully "rigged" kayak is equipped with all the modern bells and whistle found mostly on boast costing well over $3000 dollars; fish finder, GPS, marine compass, four rod holders, waterproof hatches, a live well, drift anchor, a marine VHF radio, and a cup holder for your beverage of choice.

Is it all necessary? Not at all, but it makes the experience more fun, more productive, and safer. Why not get a real boat, you ask? It is a real boat except that you don't need to register it with the man, you don't need an established launching facility, you don't need a powerful vehicle to tow it, and you can always use it by yourself. It has also rekindled my love for the Pacific Ocean as I'm able to avoid most seasickness in such a small an maneuverable boat. In college, I would tow my kayak to the yacht harbor in Santa Cruz with a make-shift bicycle trailer, paddle out for a few hours of fishing when the weather was good (most of the time in Santa Cruz), and be back in time for class. On a college budget, it doesn't get much better.

My tiny boat has taken be to some of the most beautiful and remote destinations of the Pacific as well as wild rivers of the north coast and alpine lakes of the sierras. It has also contributed to a wealth of fish tacos, abalone, crab feasts, and frozen fillets for me and all my friends. I am forever grateful to my tiny boat and encourage everyone interested to give it a try. You can rent a sit-on-top from almost any kayak rental company and bring a rod and a couple lures, you won't regret it. For an overwhelming volume of advice and a supportive community of like-minded anglers, check out the articles and forums at http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php . Fishing reports and opportunities to join other kayak anglers are posted daily and you can look for my occasional posts. My screen name is, you guessed it, Fishloomis.

*An interesting side note: this was also an invaluable technique for the Inuit as most of them could not swim. Who would want to swim in polar waters any way?

Fish porn:

King salmon caught casting a spinner in the Klamath River

Wild Eel River steelhead on deck caught side drifting row from the kayak

King salmon caught mooching in 160 feet of water in Monterey Bay

A fellow kayaker's haul in Shelter Cover

A fellow kayaker's haul in Shelter Cover

My haul from Shelter Cove

Striped bass from the Marin Islands

My personal best lingcod (32 inches) and a fat vermillion (20+ inches) from Timber Cove