Mud, Sweat, and Tears

Anytime I feel I am pushing my adventure envelope, I ask Jeff, "You know who would love this?" His response, "The Sheshunoffs!" They are dear friends who love adventure (and would not consider my more adventurous moments as being anywhere close to pushing the envelope). Check out his hilarious memoir, "A Beginner's Guide to Paradise", to see just how cool they are.

So  this adventure brought them to mind. We drove to the Rob Roy Glacier trail from Wanaka. It was raining, but hey this was our last day in the area, so we went anyway. Jeff mentioned, "The guidebook says there are 30 km of gravel road to drive to the trail head." No big deal, we can handle it. Then we came to a sign that says "FORD", we took a deep breath and forged ahead, excited to drive through the river. After fording 6 streams in the rental car (pretty much closing our eyes and praying we could get across) we were less excited. But we made it through all of them after 45 min on the gravel road. We also stopped for hundreds of sheep to cross the road, something we rarely do in southern California.

We started up the trail in the light rain with the sound of the Tui birds in our ears, loaded with jackets, hats, and gloves that we didn't need (I am nothing if I am not prepared). 15 minutes in we crossed a swinging bridge. The guidebook indicated that the hike had a "gentle" incline and was rated as "easy". The New Zealand version of gentle and my version of gentle are quite different. So, once again I was huffing and puffing up the mountain. I had just finished reading the Bear Grylls autobiography called "Mud, Sweat, and Tears", so I used his inspiration to keep me going. Not that I am comparing my hike to the glacier lookout to Bear's Everest summit attempt. For instance, I did not require the use of bottled oxygen or the assistance of Sherpas (both things that Bear used prodigiously). The view of the gushing waterfall and light blue glacier edge on the mountain renders you speechless, well worth all the effort to get there. Natalie did twist her knee a bit on the way down, but recovered just fine and managed the rest of the hike. On the way back across the swinging bridge Natalie unwittingly sacrificed her hat to in the wind. So you can soak up the glittery bulldog hat from her all star soccer team here. Goodbye old friend.

Kate in the rain.

Extreme adventure!

Rob Roy Glacier

Nat with glacier and hat (that is soon to be lost).

Bit of extra knee support with fuzzy scarf.

She made a full recovery, and did not complain.

 

Click Below for Video 1: Fording the Stream:

Click Below for Video 2: On the Trail

Click Below for Video 3: Rob Roy Glacier

Short Finned Eel Feeding

Hurunui Jack's was a unique place. There used to be 12 salmon runs on the property. They got rid of 11 of them to make the pond and kept one for swimming. So on a hot afternoon, we all decided to see what it felt like to be a salmon. The run water was cool and inviting, even if a bit brown and grassy.

Some fellow travelers arrived and were told to reach their glamping tent (glamorous camping) they had to put on Gum Boots. If they had handed me a pair of Gum Boots upon arrival, I am sure I would have laughed in their faces. Curious, we asked to check out the tent after they left. Natalie's new favorite shoes are Gum Boots, which by the way are far less effective when you fall in the lake, as Natalie discovered. So we took the 10 minute hike to the tent that was right by the river. Great tent with a wooden floor and bed.

John, the owner, suggested we feed the eels in the river. Sure John, how do we do that? He gave us some cat food and we headed back to the river (they didn't have the bacon or liver that the eels prefer). We put a cup of cat food in the river covered with a rock. After waiting a few minutes (and John moving the cup to faster flowing water) 3 black eels made their way upstream after smelling the food. "Do we need to move the rock for them?". Nope, they just knocked it over. One was so large that John estimated it's age at 100 years. They were beautiful and strange. We will not son forget feeding the short finned eels.

2 videos below.

For Video Click Below:

Salmon run, yup we swam in it.

My Adventurer

Exploring with Daddy

Gum Boots

Skippin' Rocks

Check Out That Eel

Our friend John.

 100 year old Short Finned Eel.

Hurunui Jacks

Next stop was Hokitika, a quiet coastal town with a surprising wealth of natural beauty. We arrived to The Nest at Hurunui Jack's, a cottage with a personalized welcome sign. Small but cozy, we settled in. As we admired the outdoor bath we were accosted by bugs. I was bitten easily 8 times in about 3 minutes. I retreated inside and was please to find bug spray.

The next morning before Natalie and I woke Jeff did some mountain biking, only to find half way into the ride that the brakes were out on his bike. After a spectacular crash, he made it home (with the all important right hand spared from injury - so he can still paint). We checked the brakes on the other bikes and all headed out biking the trail, with Natalie on Jeff's handle bars. No more crashes and nice cool morning breezes. The bugs can't keep up with the bikes.

We drove to the waterfall and had a picnic, and then to the gorge with the azure blue pools and a swinging bridge. We took a look at the local driftwood sculpture contest and had some Hungarian fried bread (yum). We were also able to see more glowworms that night at the Dell. I will never get tired of those.