The 1000 Day Holiday

well I survived the kepler track..60km woot.
weather was top notch. blue skys and a nice breeze on the tops to keep us cool.

The track was amazing Keas, Woodpigeons, Tuis, Bellbirds, Keas, Israellis, Dutch, Keas & Germans.

so now just the routeburn to go.
Hitching out to the divide starting point tomorrow morning.

hanging out in te anau.. wow a bustling metropolis.
will upload pics when I get somewhere with a decent internet connection.

on the 23rd i hitched from queenstown to invercargill.

both rides were from hippy vans, the first being driven by a retired hippy from takaka. He offered me a joint to make the rest of my trip relaxing.. hahaha

Invercargill is as much of a hole as i remember. not much going on.
caught up w anna & tony last night.

heading for te anau today. starting the 60km kepler track tomorrow. hopefully the weather is good.

well today is the settlement day for my new house!

Crazy!

Yesterday took I got to play with Guns. Went claybird shooting. 6 outa 10 isnt too bad shooting left handed!

we then had a very leisurely drive over the crown range. stopping at the summit for a picnic and lying in the sun for the arvo.

Shotover jet is back running again
The next few days will be adrenalin filled.
Shotover Jet
Shotover Rafting
Canyon Swing
Bungy
Fly by wire

Also trying to get onto the routeburn & maybe kepler tracks.

Today was pretty full on.

9am Steph, Rachel & I did a 12,000ft skydive in wanaka.

2pm we flew wanaka – milford sound, did a cruise and flew back. The flight outdid the cruise! since we flew thru the sound on approach to the airport.

the size of everything is beyond belief.

to Queenstown tomorrow, hopefully the Shotover Jet is running again!

Spent the day on Franz Joseph Glacier doing a full day guided tour.

Absolutely stunning, the guiding company was excellent and provided all the gear needed. was a bit of rain early on, but then cleared to a brilliant day. Some huge crevases and ice caves were explored.

Some NZ pics are in the gallery now.

We left westport for Greymouth and on westies advice headed for blackball.

Population ~50 but it has 3 pubs including the backball hilton.
now I cant really verbalise how cool this place was. very homely and crazy things everywhere.

for example: there was a newspaper from 1964 sitting on the book table. original and great reading!

Do not stay in greymouth. Stay in the Blackball Hilton and I’ll let you discover it for yourselves!

Also recommend the Croesus track we did some of it from blackball. but westie recommends doing it from barrytown -> blackball (ie in reverse) as its easier on the knees.

Well its been a while since ive been at a computer. WOOT!

7/1/05
The tongariro crossing was really awesome. Alpine conditions on the ascent (read: no visibility, v cold and windy). however the Gacko, Allister, Steph & Rachel all powered on.

it cleared on the other descent for a great afternoon. pics to come..

8/1/05
Back to Wgtn and flew to Nelson. Great to hang out with the cousins etc.
Had 1 day kitesurfing, 1 too much wind, the other none.
decided carrying all that gear is crazy. so have now freighted it to Invercargill.

12/1/05 Hitched to Blenheim to catch up w Rachel & Steph. Had a great day wine tasting and camped at Lake Rotoiti.

We were at the springlands (doohick wop wop town!) supermarket. and the checkout chick asked if i was american. not sure if it was cause i payed by Amex or cause i was with some americans. I said as if. And then she asked if i was australian.

BUH!

13/1/05: Sitting in westport watching it piss down outside. wanting to do some cool hikes. but not in this..

Well Im hanging out in my old home town.

Quite cool to be back. Im already trying to work out how im going to carry so much gear around with me.

Planning to do the Tongariro crossing on Saturday.

So its my last day in sydney. 17.x hours to go.

If one was organised it could be fun. Theres a million things to do..

Idiot dont forget:
get House Insurance
check with conveyancer for what else needs to be done for settlement/payment
update ipod w movies/music
upload important docs to online. (cv etc)
get copies of passport et al.
alter kiteboard bag for pack connection
do Medical claims
Camera – find replacement
book NZ internal flights
Book NZ return flight
book return Japan flight
Check Upgrade status for NZ flight: or wear kitesurfing gear to airport.
Schedule DSL/phone/power connection at house.
change over telstra account at flat
sort out final bills.
send remaining paperwork to ma/pa re van
update rego.license details
Jo – Lunch
deliver laptop to Suz
pack
clean
go to airport have a scotch!