OZ and New Zealand trip with Mom

Hey everybody!! It's definitely been awhile since my last blog as I was home for 3 weeks over Christmas and then my mom just came down for her first trip since I've been here and she stayed for about 2.5 weeks.

Christmas at home was great as I was able to see my new nephew Austin for the first time as he was born in October and this was my first time home since then. It was also great to have that time at home to be with friends and family.

But more on the "Down Under" trip. I met Mom in Cairns, Australia on January 15th. We were up there to see the Great Barrier Reef and I have a great picture of an enormous fish I saw while snorkeling up there. I'd love to go back there as I was only able to snorkel the one day and there was so much to see! I need to get my diving license!!

The following day we visited an aboriginal cultural center and a rainforest up near Carins. Threw and bought a boomerang even! :)

The following day we left for Syndey where we spent our first night dining at the Skytower Restaurant downtown Sydney. The next day was filled with a tour of the Sydney Opera house and then lunch on the harbour and lots of shopping! Mom and I were lucky that night as they have an "open air cinema" with recently released movies so we sat ouside on the harbour with th opera house and the sydney harbour bridge in the background as a screen rose and we watched a movie! It was really cool! The next morning mom and I woke up and went to the Taronga Syndey Zoo to see koalas, kangaroos, and tasmanian devils as well as other animals from all over the world. That night we had a harbour cruise with dinner and then a performance at the Syndey Opera House.

Then, we flew to Queenstown, New Zealand (mom's favorite). The first night we ate dinner at a fanstastic restaurant overlooking the city that can only be reached by Gondola, or possibly by goat or sheep! The next morning we boarded a bus and drove over to Milford Sound which is quite possibly one of the most beautiful sights in the world. The next day mom and I decided to take advantage of being in the adventure capital of the world as we did some white water rafting down grade 4 and 5 rapids! Mom LOVED it! Possibly the best part of her trip I think! We finished up that day with shopping and eating!

And last stop Christchurch but not before crossing the country by bus and stopping at Mt. Cook. In Christchurch we did a little shopping, visited the Antarctic Centre and also took a wildlife harbour cruise where we were able to see Hector Dolphin's (the world's smallest dolphin) and small blue penguins swimming in the water! It was really cool. We found out at the Antarctic Centre that 75% of the world's population flies to Antartica from Christchurch, NZ and there was even a US plane sitting outside.

Finally, mom came back to Dunedin with me to see where I live and what I'm up to. We did a horseback riding trip on the beach one day and saw a yellow eyed penguin standing on the beach alone. We also went out to the Albatross Colony and to some of the beautiful beaches here in Dunedin.

Well that pretty much covers the past 2 weeks. We had a great time and hopefully you enjoy some of the pictures from the trip. Not sure about my next adventure as of yet but am planning another "Great Walk" trip in May and possibly one before then.

I hope everyone is well!

love,
lexie

BIG FISH! GREAT BARRIER REEF!

WALLABY!

SYDNEY SKYLINE!

SYDNEY OPEN AIR CINEMA!

SYDNEY SKYTOWER RESTAURANT

OPERA HOUSE AND HARBOUR BRIDGE - SYDNEY

OPERA HOUSE

SYDNEY HARBOUR CRUISE DINNER
SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

LAZY KOALA!

MILFORD SOUND

HORSEBACK RIDING in DUNEDIN

ARAMOANA BEACH - DUNEDIN

Glacier Sea Kayaking - Mt. Cook

Well it was another weekend away and this time it took place in the west-central part of the Southern Island of New Zealand at Mt. Cook National Park. Mt. Cook is part of the Southern Alps and is the highest point in New Zealand standing just over 12,300 feet. Since they don't do Thanksgiving here and Turkey costs over $100 for a decent sized bird, some friends of mine and I decided to take a post "Thanksgiving holiday" to do some hiking and kayaking! This was our treat to ourselves!

Mt. Cook features gorgeous mountain ranges and there are over 70 named glaciers in this park. It's the neatest thing about New Zealand is one day you are walking on ice and in just a few hours you could be on a beach somewhere or in a rainforest climate! It's surreal!

Saturday we took a 4 hour hike out to one of the glacier lakes and later a small trip to another glacier lake where we were able to see several icebergs floating around having broken off from the main glacier. We were able to actually take kayaks into the water on one of these glacier lakes and were able to get within about 150 meters of the face of the glacier. It really is very active and you could hear and see rock falling off the glacier and small bits of ice coming up from under the water.

I'm attaching a few pictures from the weekend!
Hope you enjoy.

Kepler Track Y'all!!

Just to be clear, this is me getting my PhD! :)



So I was off to the Kepler Track this weekend! Another one of New Zealand's "Great Walks" which basically consists of unbelievable views and several days of hiking or "tramping" as it is known throughout New Zealand.


The Kepler Track is a 69 km or about 43 mile circular path that walks through part of the Fiordland National Park in the South West of the South Island of New Zealand.


Once again listed as an "easy" tramping track, I want to murder the guy or girl who rates these things because I walked 43 MILES in 4 days and up and down 1500 meters or nearly 4000 FEET!! It was NOT easy! :) I thought the bones in my feet nearly broken and by the time we reached the car, almost every muscle in my lower body collapsed!


Basically, the entire area was carved by glaciers from the ice age carving through the mountains and forming the lakes and valleys. Lots of ferns and beech forest cover the area and then there is the Alpine section where you traverse across the top of the mountain for some amazing views. You'll see!


So Day 1 took us about 4.5 hours to complete. You start by walking along Lake Te Anau through mountain and forest beech and then you CLIMB for 2 hours passing through limestone and eventually climb out of the tree line and hike to Luxmore Hut for the evening. It was starting to get windy that day so by the time we reached the hut, in another 2 hours we were sitting amidst a snow storm! Glad we made it to the hut early and actually the snow made for AMAZING views the following day!

Walking out of the tree line

Track to Luxmore Hut

River through Mountains

Luxmore Hut (not a bad location!)

Headlamp heading to the caves!

On Day 2 we hiked from the Luxmore Hut to the Iris Burn Hut but not before climbing to the peak of Mt. Luxmore. We then followed the Forest Burn Saddle and ridge system for about 2 hours before then descending again to the Iris Burn shelter.

Luxmore Hut Morning After!

WOW!!

Te Anau Lake

Day 2 Track through Luxmore Mountain

Summit of Mount Luxmore

Alpine Ridge Trail!

Iris Burn Hut

Day 3 we hiked out of the Iris Burn Hut through the forest, pass a gorge and alongside a river before reaching our 3rd Hut, Moturau Hut, which sat lakeside to Lake Manapouri with yet more great views.

River Fun!

The Great Slip (1984) - Rainfall collapsed the mountain and formed this valley

River opening to Lake Manapouri

Moturau Hut

Enjoying my PhD on Lake Manapouri!

Lake Manapouri Sunset

Day 4 ended by walking through beech forest and wetland to Rainbow Reach and finally out to the carpark (parking lot) :)

Rainbow Reach

Rakiura Track Stewart Island, New Zealand

GOOD GRIEF MY LEGS HURT!!

So this past weekend was one of the highlights of New Zealand thus far. 3 of us decided to "tramp" (or hike as we call it) the Rakiura track located on Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Stewart Island is a small island just 30 km south of the South Island of New Zealand, across the Fouveaux Strait. Home to only about 300 permanent residents it is an isolated island with one of the most beautiful national forests in the world.

The Rakiura National Park was opened in 2002. The Rakiura Track is a 36 km circuit which takes 3 days to hike. The Rakiura track has been named one of New Zealand's "Great Walks" which basically means it is known as one of the premier hiking trails with better hut systems than some of the others.

We were blessed all weekend with spectacular weather!! Absolutely ZERO rain which is almost unheard of on Stewart Island. Day 1 walked near the shoreline with several views of spectacular beaches followed by a day in the Bush on our way to our 2nd Hut. Day 3 continued through Bush and back to our starting point!

This hike is labeled as an "easy" hike suitable for anyone with a moderate level of fitness. I am not in Olympic condition by any means, but one would think I maintain at least a moderate level of fitness and I could barely walk at the end of day 3!!

Once we finished our hike, we made a quick side trip over to Ulva Island which has become a New Zealand bird sanctuary for many rare and endangered bird and plant species.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, in some of them i may look extremely tired and DIRTY after 3 days without a shower! My pack weighed about 25 lbs to start loaded with noodles and granola and trail mix and of course, SNICKERS!! I mean seriously...they have nuts!! Protein!

Time to rest the legs a bit before the next adventure and should probably work on that PhD thing as well!

Cheers!
lexie

Patterson Inlet - Starting Point!!

Rakiura National Park

Hiking Day 1!

Lexie and Emily stop for a picture Day 1!

YAY!! Hut #1 - Time for a rest! - Port William Hut

Crazy hiking trail Day #2

Crazy Swing Bridge - made of fence!

Thank Goodness!! Hut #2 - My legs are dying!

View from Hut 2 - North Arm Hut

Looking sleepy! :)

We made it! Barely standing!!

Family, oops I mean group Photo!

Views from Ulva Island

Last of Ulva Island!