Troubles with the Beast!!!

Well, it's been awhile since we checked in with you. We have been traveling up the west coast through some beautiful, but pretty remote country so no easy access to the internet. We left Queenstown and started the drive through Mt. Aspiring National Park on the way to the west coast. Along the way we did a hike called Mt. Brewster which was kind of a killer. It went straight up the mountain and it was more like orange triangle nailed to trees through the woods in a straight line to the top! I almost didn't make it, but Mike managed to coax me along, and once we were out above the tree line things got easier because the awesome views distracted me from my sore legs!

After that we continued west finally coming to stop in the little town of Okarito which has turned out to be both of our favorite place so far on this trip. The town is tiny, but it is right on the ocean with wide open beaches, and a beautiful lagoon which is also a bird sanctuary. We spent the evening resting up and taking in the waves and the sun on the beach. The next day we rented kayaks and paddled out into the lagoon to do some bird watching. You can time it so that the tide takes you into the lagoon and then in the afternoon pulls you out again and in between there is plenty of time to explore some of the chanels along the edges where the green rainforest overhangs your boat and the birds are everywhere. One special treat was that once a year large numbers of white herons come to the lagoon for breeding and we happened to be there right at the perfect time to see them. They were so graceful to watch while they hunted for fish in the lagoon, and a couple of times one flew so close over our boat it felt like we could reach out and touch it.

It was hard to leave Okarito, but we finally did and continued up the west coast. Were 10 Km outside of Hokitika when with a cough and a wheeze the Beast concked out and came to a stop at the edge of the highway! Oh no! Mike kept his calm and cool though and with Brooke at the wheel for the first time on the trip Mike managed to push the Beast hard enough to push start it (weve practiced this manuver before with our truck at home) We limped into Hokitika and got a campsite and tried to figure out what to do. The next day the Beast started with no problem...hmmm...but we were still nervous so we headed up to Greymouth, the largest city on the west coast. It was new years eve and everything was closed except for a carparts store, but the guys running it kind of got into helping us and after much hmming and hahaing we ended up with a new battery and away we went. Its gotten us to Picton on the north coast so far with no problems, but stay tuned for updates (hopefully they will be good ones!)

Soon we will be taking off to do a four day backpack in the Queen Charlottes at the top of the north island. It is supposed to be incredible. There are some long mileage days, but the great thing is that the water taxi picks up and delivers your things to your campsite each day, so all you have to do is hike with a daypack.

We will check in again soon. Have a great New Years eve!

Love ya and miss ya,

Brooke and Mike

View from the Routeburn Falls hut

View from the Routeburn Falls hut
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

From the porch of our final hut.

Routeburn Falls Hut

Routeburn Falls Hut
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Our final hut of the trip was in an amazing location with great views. You can see the hut at the bottom of this picture.

Rainy but still beautiful!

Rainy but still beautiful!
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

The next day boy did it rain! But we still had a great hike, especially knowing that a warm dry hut and a bottle of wine that Mike had packed in for Christmas awaited us.

Views along the Routeburn Track

Views along the Routeburn Track
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

More views from along the Routeburn!

Brooke on the Routeburn Track

Brooke on the Routeburn Track
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

The next three days we were up on the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealands great walks and boy does it deserve that distinction. It was awesome! The first day we had great summer weather and even jumped in the glacier fed lake that was near our hut. Then we climbed up on this ridge to get some views as we were told that some weather would be rolling in the next day.

It was Christmas Eve and our hut warden led carloling by candle light that night and baked all of us mini mince meat pies! We missed all of you, but it was a nice way to spend Christmas eve.

Greenstone Valley

Greenstone Valley
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

The first two days of our hike was spent here in the Greenstone Valley. Pretty nice mellow valley walk with wide open views of the mountains all around, and we even had decent weather. Both of the huts we stayed in were really nice and we met a few folks from Germany and the states. Good times.

Mike and Fritz kickin it on the porch

Mike and Fritz kickin it on the porch
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

We spent a couple of days with our buddy Fritz at his place in Queenstown (thats Hughs brother to those of you in Marbles). He was a great host and it was a perfect basecamp for our next adventure.

Milford Sound

Milford Sound
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

We spent a rainy day driving up to Milford Sound. We almost skipped it because of the weather, but our friend Fritz convinced us to go and we are so glad we did. Even with the clouds the views were incredible! Very majestic and well worth the drive.

New Friends on Stewart Island

New Friends on Stewart Island
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Here are our new friends we made on our hike around Stewart Island. Kym, Graham, Sue and Steph. Thanks Kym and Graham for putting us up in such a beautiful holiday cabin.

The Stairs

The Stairs
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Here is Brooke on one set of the thousands of stairs along the Raikura Track.

Mike at Lookout

Mike at Lookout
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

This is at the highest point in the trail where there is a lookout over the island.

Beginning the Raikura Track

Beginning the Raikura Track
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Here is Mike and I at the beginning of the treck around Stewart Island. Beautiful beaches and forests.

4$ Campsite

4$ Campsite
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Here is our 4$ campsite in the Catlins. Pretty sweet huh? The Beast is happy to be resting on the beach after a long day and so are we!

Mike and the Boulders

Mike and the Boulders
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Mike is the king of the boulders! The Moeraki Boulders are a strange geologic phenomenon that the ocean errodes out of the mainland.

Sun, Sandflies and Stairs on Stewart Island

Hey Everyone. We keep hoping to download more pictures for you to look at, but finding places that will let you connect your camera is proving a little more difficult than we thought it would be, so for now we'll just send stories and when we find a place well catch you up with the pictures.

Stewart Island was fantastic. Once again we lucked out with the weather. It rains 250 days of the year there, but two of the days it was just beautiful and the first day it only drizzled a little, which actually was nice for hiking. We did a 3 day hike that is a loop around part of the island. A lot of the trail was boardwalk because the island is notorious for its mud. The second day was a workout because of all of the stairs. Someone who had done the hike before us wrote an entry in the log book that they stopped counting at 3,000, but that there must be at least 5,000! My calves are still aching. There were tons of unusual birds and bird calls and lots of beautiful lush green bush. Some of the plants look like they should be found in the NW, like the fern tree and others look really tropical with huge leaves. It was even warm enough that the second day we went swimming in the ocean.

The hut system here is pretty different from camping at home. It's kind of strange to be hiking all day and then come to a fully equipped house in the middle of nowhere with mattresses and running water! Not that I'm complaining or anything, it just makes for pretty cushy camping and a much lighter pack since you dont have to pack in a tent, or mattress pad or anything. Both huts we stayed in were right on the water.

The best think about the trip was the people that we met. There was a great couple from Tasmania, Kym and Graham and a really nice couple from Ontario, Sue and Steph, who we shared the huts with along the way as well as good conversations. Kym and Graham had rented a holiday house for after the trip and they invited all of us to come stay there after the hike was over. It was a beautiful place with huge windows and a porch that looked out over the harbour. We felt spoiled! (Thanks Kym and Graham if you are reading this, we'll be keeping our eyes open for that Tasmanian Devil microbrew : ))

Sue and Steph knew tons about birds and we went with them to a bird sanctuary on Ulva Island, just off of Stewart Island where they taught us some good tips on bird watching. On Ulva they have managed to eradicate all of the non-native predators such as rats, cats and possums so the native bird species are able to live like they used too. They make you check your backpacks for rats when you get off the boat. The birds there are everywhere, we saw the Tui, bellbird, saddleback (very rare), Oystercatchers, the NZ robin, several kinds of parrots and tons more. One bird, the Weka is a flightless bird that looks kind of like a Kiwi and it would come right up to you and peck at the insects around your feet. Its a tiny island and we thought 3 hours would be plenty, but we could have stayed for a whole day and still seen new things!

The worst thing about the trip was the sandflies! Tiny black flies that like to nibble on humans and leave little welts like mosquitos. Not as bad as Hozomeen in the summer, but still a bit annoying if you stayed in one place to long.

Now we are in Te Anau planning our next treck in the Fiordlands and Mt. Aspiring National Parks. It will be a five day loop that will include the famous Routeburn Track. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the weather. It's raining pretty good here now, making it feel even more like home. We will start on the 22nd and come out on the 26th so hopefully we will meet some nice people on the way to spend Christmas with that last night on the trail.

We love and miss you all! Have a great Christmas!

The Wild East and Deep South

Hello! Thanks for all of your comments. Terry , thanks for the tip about barging the Beast to the north island, we have arranged to do that and it will save us almost $200. There has been a request for more pictures of the Beast inside and out. Don't worry, we've got plenty and will post some next time we are at a computer with a USB port to connect to. We have over 200 pictures already everything is so beautiful it's hard not to stop every 5 minutes to take another one (although I think that maybe we shouldn't take any more of roadside sheep, but they are just so darn cute). Thanks Aubs and Matt for the extra camera card, were going to use it!

Since the last time we checked in with you we headed south from Oamaru down the East Coast to the Otago Peninsula just outside of the town of Dunedin. 5 minutes outside of the city and you are in rolling green hill territory with sheep everywhere and beautiful ocean views on all sides. We did a day hike that lead through sheep pastures and then down to a cove with sandy white beaches. We didn't see anyone the whole time, but what we did come accross was a giant endangered New Zealand Sealion right smack dab in the middle of the beach! A sign at the beginning of the trail had warned us that they are not afraid of people so to be sure to give them lots of room if you see them. We climbed up on the sandy hill above and then watched from a safe distance for awhile. It was a male sealion and he was huge! The book said they can weigh up to 400 pounds and he looked like he just might. He wasn't super active though, just laid there in a big blob and flipped sand over his back to stay cool. He was still a pretty awesome sight to see though!

From the Otago Peninsula we headed south to the Caitlins National Forest Preserve where we found the best and cheapest campspot we have come accross so far. 4$ for the both of us for the night and right on the coast on a sandy bay surrounded by incredible sea cliffs and grassy rolling hills. Just like a little bit of heaven and we almost had the whole place to ourselves (just 2 other campers a ways away). The sunrise in the morning was spectacular pinks and oranges with the bright green sea below. Mike went for a little walk where he almost stepped on another sealion this time a female, so a bit smaller, but then he was quite a bit closer and he headed the other way right away. Stay tuned for pictures of this campsite too next time we get a chance to download them.

Tonight we are staying in a really nice hostel in the town of Invercargill. This is the southern most town on the southern island. It's got a distinct hip and laid back flair to it and the weather is getting warmer for sure. We are getting prepared to do a backpack trip on Stewart Island which is south of the southern island. It is supposed to have tons of sea and bird life and the hike is one of the great walks of New Zealand. We will head out tomorrow morning and so will be out of touch for a few days, but will update you when we get back. We also booked our tickets to do the Routburn Track in the Fiordlands NP the week after next. Its supposed to be even more beautiful than the Milford Track and quite a bit less crowded we hear.

We love and miss you all and will be in touch in a few days. Over and out, Mike and Brooke

Penguin Crossing

Hey everyone. Thanks for all of the comments, its really fun to hear from you and know that you are looking in. Well you probably saw some of our pictures from our stay at Mt. Cook National Park. What an incredible place and in many ways very much like home. We spent 2 nights at a DOC (department of conservation) campground sleeping and cooking in the belly of the Beast. We had one day with spectacular weather during which we did a day hike called the Hooker Valley Track. It crosses two very high suspension bridges and long stretches of boardwalk, and eventually ends at Hooker Lake, and glacier fed lake with numerous icebergs floating in it. The mountain views along the way were incredible and I guess we were really lucky because we were told that the top of Mt. Cook is almost always hidden in the clouds. No surprise then when that evening the weather moved in. We made a great vegetable curry stirfry and climbed in the Beast to read and stay warm and dry.

Yesterday we drove to Oamaru, stopping at the Clay Cliffs for lunch on the way. Oamaru is a town that Aubri would love! We stayed at t campground just on the outskirst of town, but still within very easy walking distance. From our campground a bridge led right into the heart of the Oamaru Gardens, said to be some of the most beautiful gardens in NZ. Just accross the bridge there was a perfectly manicured lawn where people were playing croquet. Then amazing rose gardens, water gardens and then turning another corner a bright red bridge over the Oamaru River, and then an aviary filled with colored parakeets. You could get lost here for hours, and we hardly saw anyone else. It felt like it was straight out of a Jane Austin story.

The downtown area is also really beautiful. All of the buildings are made out of local white limestone. It has a slightly old fashioned aire. I bought a book at a second hand book store and they wrapped it in brown paper and tied it with twine. Very sweet.

This morning we went for a short walk out to where you can see some of the yellow eyed penguins from a distance. They look like little people walking around on the beach.

Miss you and love you. Over and out, Brooke and Mike

Clay cliffs

NZ 011
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

A cool lunch spot along the way back to the coast.

A good day

NZ 010
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Mike with views of Mt. Cook in the background. What a beautiful hike!

Swaying in the breeze

NZ 008
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

One of the suspension bridges on a hike near Mt. Cook.

Mt. Cook

NZ 009
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

A rare view of Mt. Cook, it's almost always in the clouds. 12,340 ft.

View down the valley

NZ 007
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

View towards Lake Pukaki from Mt. Cook National Park.

Driving

NZ 006
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Mike is doing such a great job driving on the other side of the road!

NZ 005

NZ 005
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Buying the Beast

NZ 004
Originally uploaded by mikebrooke.

Here is a photo of Mike sealing the deal on the Beast. Isn't he a beauty?

Christchurch and the Beast

Alot has happened in the last couple of days. New Zealand is a wonderful place so far. The first thing that strikes you when you step out of the airport is how great it smells! Kind of a mix of honeysuckle and orange pekoe tea. Very nice. We are staying in a lovely hostel about six blocks from downtown. It is fairly small and has a couple of nice garden courtyards. The people who run it are really friendly, and the birds greet you very energetically in the morning with their plans for the day.

The first day, despite being kind of fuzzy from all of the traveling we decided to see a bit of Christchurch. We headed to the center of town where the cathedral serves as the hub of the city. Along the way we grabbed some very cheap, but quite yummy fish and chips wrapped in brown paper to eat in the square, then plopped ourselves down on a bench to watch the world go by. From our vantage we saw people playing chess with giant pieces and we also got to see the Wizard. The Wizard is apparently a kind of crazy famous person in New Zealand, he is a retired english professor that sometimes comes to the square and lectures loudly about love and religion and all sorts of things. He was a little bit hard to follow, but very entertaining all the same. The Wizard drives a Volkswagen VW that has two front ends welded together, so when you see him from behind it looks like he is speeding backwards down the street!

We also saw the Christchurch museum of art, and stopped into the Cathedral to catch the evensong, sung by the Christchurch boys choir. Very beautiful. There is also an amazing botanical garden here right in the heart of town that a person could get lost in for a full day. There are water gardens, rock gardens, rose gardens, but the best thing we found was a teeter-totter for big people.

You may remember that our first mission was going to be to acquire a trusty mode of transport. Well, mission accomplished! We call him the beast, but most certainly with affection. He is a white campervan with a retrofitted bed and a stove in the back and plenty of out of sight storage under the bed. The coolest thing about him is that he runs on regular gas, but also natural gas, which is much cheaper. Mike has been doing great driving on the other side of the road, which is very exciting especially in the city. It took most of the day to get the beast checked out at the mechanic and then all of the paperwork and insurance stuff done, but now we are ready to hit the road!

Our plan is to head out of Christchurch early tomorrow morning for the Mt. Cook area. We are ready to see some mountains and do some hiking. The area is pretty remote so it might be a few days before we can update this again. We love and miss you all. Over and out, Mike and Brooke

We made it!

Hey everyone, Just a super quick update since we only have 3 minutes left on our time here at the computer. We made it into Christchurch today. All in all it was a super easy trip. We will give you more details tomorrow. Love to all of you...Mike and Brooke

Welcome to our Blog!

Hey Everybody, thanks for tuning in! This is our first ever blog. We were inspired by my cousin Phoebe who has created a beautiful blog about her quarter attending school in London. We'll do our best to keep you updated about our wanderings through New Zealand.

Most of you know we start the long journey south tomorrow beginning in Bellingham. We'll catch the Greyhound to Seattle in the morning and then begins a series of flights eventually depositing us in Christchurch on Wednesday. Our first mission will be to buy a car or van to serve as our trusty mode of transportation throughout the journey. Stay tuned and we'll be sure to let you know how it goes!