And the journey continues...up to Mt Cook.

After a relaxing stay in Queenstown..the journey was calling again...so I joined another group of weary travelers on the loop back up to my eventual destination of Auckland on the north Island. We've got a few more weeks and a few more posts before Auckland, so I hope you stay tuned. I've got a few more good stories tucked away...that I'm hoping to share before we wrap this little trip up. The ride up to mountain was quite short. Our driver was an elderly chap who told us stories about how he used to be a sheep shearer in the olden days and how much it was changed. I guess they lived their lives like the old cattle hands back then and would be hired onto farms for the different seasons to do the sheering. The would be paid and given room and board to do the sheering. It was really bizarre to hear about the manual labor that still goes on today in New Zealand, but it did seem to be largely and agricultural society.

He told us a few stories on the three hour bus ride to Mt Cook but there's one that I remember pretty well...it was the story of Shrek the sheep ..that's right. Every year the sheep are pulled in to be sheered and there was a local sheep that had eluded being sheered for a good 3 years. Normally when they sheer the sheep they give about 6lbs of wool...but when they finally caught up with this sheep who they lovingly named "Shrek," he gave them 25lbs of wool. A local school was trying to raise money for a new playground and wrote a book about this elusive sheep to raise money. They not only raised all the money, but the book is still on sale today for the tourists.

 As we got closer to Mt. Cook our driver also told us that there were a total of five glaciers on the South Island, Franz Josef(Glacier hike post), Mt Cook, Tasman, Fox and one other...:) Mt Cook is approx 12,000 so roughly the same size as the Grand Teton...although I think the Grand Teton is 14,000...still pretty high. 

 

 A bit of a historical tidbit for you, James Cook circumnavigated New Zealand twice on his discovery of the islands, he could see Mt Cook from the boat...He stopped here twice for supplies and get the natives...

Mt Cook was a site to see and I'm a sucker for mountains...just as long as it's not freezing, but after being in New Zealand for a few weeks, I'd adjusted a bit to the weather. The colors on the trees and bushes were so vivid.

There wasn't a glacier hike but you could take a helo ride for a mere 400NZD..Yikes...no thanks...I'll just take a bunch of photos...:)

At the end of the day, I was dropped off by our chatty bus driver at the hostel at the foot of the glacier...This photo was taken just by stepping out the door of the hostel.

 

At this stop, I was meeting a new Stray bus driver and new group of people...this was going to be alot of fun...:) Once they arrived I met our new groups which was funny because it was all girls except for one guy from Georgia who was a veterinarian and he name was "Dr Phil Good" and he even has business cards...and was giving them out to everyone...which his contact details...OMG...that is too funny...our entire group thought is was too funny...:)

There were a few hikes at this stop to get you closer to the glacier..but I opted out of the hike on this day.

The day around Queenstown

After days and days of constantly moving, Queenstown was the place to be for the next few days. Queenstown seems to have everything in the outdoor activity department, from speed boats and mountain biking to snow skiing and bungy jumping...it all seems to be there. For every visitor, you could gage your outdoor activity intensity and choose whatever activity you wanted. It's such a big kids playground. They've made a real effort to promote all different types of outdoor activities to keep the tourist coming all at time of the year.

 It was really pleasant to be "off" for a day and have time to just relax and do whatever you wanted without having to meet a bus...train or plane schedule. On this beautiful fall like day, I wandered up to the botanical gardens for a bit of a walk and to get some fresh air. On a great fall day..when the air is crisp and cool, I started walking up to the botanical gardens.

It was great to walk around and see the sleepy town while people leisurely enjoyed their weekend activities. I had a great time walking around listening to music...and following the trial around the lake.

 It was a great day to read the newspaper outside... or play frisbie golf in the park, going on the speed boat...going fishing and taking a morning run. It was refreshing to be there.

 I saw a group of old folks playing Patonc a the local country club in their Sunday best.

 This was a war memorial to the different soldiers...and possibly explorers...

I was walking and walking that day....getting a little carried away by the music...and the beautiful scenery around the lake...to notice...

Just looking around enjoying the water and the boats...

 Seeing the locals...running biking or out with their dogs...

the occasional tourist...

The old delapidated docks and boats...

I just kept going....until I realized I'd arrived at the next town...so I guess I'll walk back now...:)

It was such a beautiful day...I enjoyed it alot....

 By the time I got back...there was a cloudy mist rolling out over the water...the sun was so bright...it bounced off the water...making everything hard to see.

When I finally got back....I met a friend from the trip out for dinner for a well deserved...fish n chips...yummo.

One for the geeks....Ride of the Rings in New Zealand

I've been waiting to write this one for awhile. Our group arrived to Queenstown and after a night out on the town...everyone parted ways to do their various activities. Some were going canyon swinging or bungy jumping off a bigger cliff but I had chosen to do something a little different. Since a lot of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand, and I'd already seen so much of the beautiful countryside....I wanted to go see where the movies were filmed. There was a horseback ride through the national parks and forests....where a part of the movies were filmed. So, the next day, I decided...to go on the scenis horseback ride of the national forest.

I was picked up in the afternoon by the bus and taken to the stables...our guide was a girl who was in her early twenties and was a little kid on the set when they filmed the Lord of the Rings. One day she'd actually barged into Aragon's tent during filming...or at least that was the story they told us...We mounted up on our horses and headed off into the forest. It was amazing to see the national forest with such old trees and foliage. It was a requirement of the government that Peter Jackson and his crew leave the national forest untouched...so every tree...rock and twig had to be left as it was when they starting filming. 

We walked through the forest where the big fight scene at the end of the first film....where Aragon get pinned up against the tree...his battle with the big Orc...etc...it was all filmed there...Towards the end of the ride, we saw where Boromir died...:( lol...but that wasn't all...the photos from inside the forest were quite dark...but you could recognize the forest from the film pretty well during the ride.

A few other points is that Lord of the Rings isn't the only movie which was filmed here...apart from movies like Wolverine...Prince Caspain....was one my childhood favorites....one of George Lucas's less popular movies...where Val Kilmer...is a rugged long haired rebel...called Mad Mardogan....?? Anyone...anyone...yup you guessed it....WILLOW!! I still like that one...this movie has so many childhood memories attached it. We used to watch it over and over and over again as kids...

 The Misty Mountains were also in the same area and you can see them in the background. It was a beautiful day to ride...crisp and cool...It was blinding how at that part of the world at about 15:00 during the day, then sun would be level with your eyes...It makes it a bit hard to see some of the photos...

 When I watched the Lord of the Rings for the first time, I was blown away by the scenery in the film and this was part of my reason for wanting to visit New Zealand....oddly enough...bungy jumping wasn't one of them...:)

The trial around to the mountains

 In this same spot....was also Fangorn Forest...and the River where Saroman's tower was located...and it was all in the same place...

 This one is a little better...you just need a little tower in the middle...:)

The group

Me and my horse

I really wanted to go on a longer ride, that was 3 hours and through the forest with a guide...crossing rivers....but I wasn't experienced enough as a rider...that...was one day...I thought...maybe I should've told a little white lie about that one...;)


I really enjoyed this one...

The Road to Queenstown Part 2

After a nice sleep in the ski shalet, we woke up the next day for the rest of the drive to Queenstown. There was a buzz on the bus about going bungy jumping, sky diving, canyon swinging...all kinds of crazy acts that involve voluntarily jumping out of  or off something...this has never been my cup of tea. 

We stopping in the morning at a small ski town on the way to Queenstown, it was cute but pretty small...and the buzz and trepidation was building because the next stop was the skydive...some had signed up and looked a little pale for most of the morning, but others were still undecided whether to go or not....the final decision was only 20 minutes away...After the time clock ticked away, we dropped off all our brave souls at the skydive place and headed to town for a few hours.

Little town by the sky dive place

 While in the ski town, I was able to do a bit of shopping, I'd been freezing since arriving, so I was able to buy a hat and use my doubled up mittens from the Chicago winter, which were conveniently hidden in my bag for most of the trip. I had actually forgotten to unpack them and almost threw them away..once while in Malaysia...but I was glad to have them now..:)

                           We made a few stop during the morning for photo opportunities...

 After we'd waited for a few hours, we went to get our faithful companions at the air strip. I was delighted to find they had an aircraft musuem. Sadly, it was closed but the dog fight painting was pretty cool.

Dog Fights

 These planes were just like the planes from our childhood trips to Canada...and I guess this was the place that you could've flown an aircraft, which was on my list, but sadly...they weren't doing that anymore.

A few members of the crew coming down from the skydive.

 After our friends triumphants return from the skydive...he headed off...it was amazing to see the change from the shaking with trepidation...to the return after accomplishing the skydive..:)

We truddled down the road to Queenstown and just shy of the city was the 33m bungy jump place. I guess the guy who invented the bungy cord is from New Zealand and th  idea came from a Moari tribe ritual where the women would jump off a cliff...then for some reason..it was changed to the men.  This same man was also arrested in Paris for bungy jumping off the Eiffel Tower in the late 80's. 

There were two girls of our group who jumped...our group watched the whole thing...from the observation deck. Everything was on film and the whole experience looked pretty traumatizing...but hey...everyone likes different stuff. In this jump, you could actually hit the water and dunk yourself depending on how you jumped. Both the girls came back looking white as sheets and saying it was terrifying. I guess everybodies different...:) right..?

The Road to Queenstown Part 1

After the hike up the icy glacier, our next day was spent largely on the bus. It was a crisp cold morning. When I arrived in NZ it was turning into fall...so it was quite a change from the bikini weather in Byron Bay. Bundle up...it was like summer was over...and it was late April..;-)

 Our bus tour was on the way across the South Island of NZ to Queenstown. There were loads o national parks and glaciers and we would just stop on the side of the road...take a few photos and hop back in the bus.

Morning Coffee by the lake

 In the morning, we stopped here just to take a quick walk in the morning and see the reflection in the lake...which again...has some scientific explanation...something about tea tree oil being in the water...:)

 

It was amazing to drive thru because you were getting off the beaten track by using the Stray Bus. You would go from mountainous glacier lake to beach and dolphins in a matter of hours.

Dolphin Siting....Maybe...or not?

 

 

 

 This was mid-afternoon and by the end of the day we were back in the mountain. We went for a hike at the end of the day to the blue pools. It was a short little hike, but it was worth the effort.

By the end of the day, we had arrived at out little triangle shaped ski shallet type dorm that slept 9 per chalet...

Reminds me a bit of Canada

It was a very beautiful day for scenery on the trip and this was only Day 2...:)