Kauai pics

Living it up in paradise

Kauai is as beautiful as I had heard! It is hard to believe the shear cliffs and waterfalls flowing right into the reefs and surf. It's paradise! I hiked the legendary NaPali coast trail for a few days and was blown away. I met up with a few other nice folks that decided to brave the muddy trails and had a great time hanging out. I slept under the stars with the sound of a rushing waterfall right near me. The wild orange and guava trees were full, and it was nice to stop every once in a while for a fruit break along the trail. It has rained quite a bit here, but it's a rainforest...what did I expect? Everyone has been very friendly and hitch hiking has been easy. I have a few crazy stories I'll tell you guys in person too. For a look at Kauai, the "garden island", watch Jurassic Park again or I'll post some pics when I return to Colorado. I leave Kauai late Saturday night and fly out of Oahu early Sunday morning. It's hard to believe that I am at the end of six months away from home. Colorado here I come! I miss you guys!

Sea kayaking in paradise

Wow! What an amazing couple days on the northern coast of the south island. My buddy and I took off for a two day sea kayaking trip in a tropical paradise. It was great to feel the warm sun again, camp next to a little beach in a cove, sea baby seals, and land wherever we pleased. Here are a few pics to give you an idea what it was like. I'll be leaving NZ in three days and heading for Hawaii. It's been an amazing time here, but I'll be ready to head on soon. I miss you guys.

On the summit of Mt. Aspiring

Hey there, I can't even describe what the last three days were like as me and three others climbed Mt. Aspiring. The Southern Alps on the west coast of New Zealand are the most rugged mountains I have ever seen and Mt. Aspiring is one of the most alluring peaks I have ever seen. These pictures won't even do our trip justice, but they will give you a better idea of what it was like. More later on Mt. Aspiring...

Rock climbing, hitch hiking, and crazy weather

Well, things here in NZ are going great. I've had chances to do so many different things in such a short time here. I am writing from an internet cafe in Lake Wanaka at the base of Mt. Aspiring national park and the Remarkables range. It has been a wild ride the last week, and the weather has a lot to do with it. Four days ago we were planning on climbing Mt. Aspiring and we were just waiting for another good day. Mt. Aspiring is a classic New Zealand climb and a very technical one due to the glaciers surrounding it and the tempremental weather that blows in off the coast. As we woke up the next morning we realized that the weather would be bad on the peak and we should do something else in the area. A Candian that I met down here, also named Alan, and I headed out to go rock climbing in the area. What a day! We did eight routes, and as the day progressed the wind got worse. On the last climb of the day the wind was nearly pulling Al off the rock (The pieces of protection he placed still would have caught his fall, but it was scary still). From there my travel buddy and I realized that we wouldn't be climbing the peak until this bad weather moved off the peak so we hitched a ride toward the Routeburn Track, a classic New Zealand backpacking trail. We landed in the small town of Glenorchy after hitching two rides in the rain. After a great meal in a cozy little pub we slept in a bunkhouse cabin for the night. As we woke up we saw the BEAUTIFUL mountains around covered in snow. This snow had made the route impassible and the department of conservation closed the route. Plan C. At this point we were soaked so we decided to hitch back to Queenstown and Wanaka in search of decent weather. once back in Wanaka I took a hike up a nearby peak and enjoyed the sunset at our camping spot. So here we are again, waiting on the weather to climb the peak. We have checked the forcast and it looks like we'll be heading up tomorrow, assuming all stays clear. There is much more snow on the mountain than when we first saw the peak only a week ago. This is good for climbing conditions, and we are anxious to get up on the glaciers. I will try to keep you updated on the peak climb in the next week. I love this place!

In the mountains again

Wow! It's so good to be in the mountains again, and these mountains are like none I have ever seen. My buddy and I have gotten to meet incredible people, do some trekking into the hills, camp on a glacier, stay with a friend, and make some plans for this next week. We have gotten lucky in every aspect except one night of bad weather. We were in the shadows of Mt. Cook camping when we met a guide from Canada looking for some guys to climb with. We immediately made plans to get up onto a glacier the next morning. After trekking for most of the day we got onto the glacier. In just a few minutes the weather turned on us. We were getting knocked over by the winds. Our new friend estimated the winds at 90 Km/hour! The rain was pelting us and we were barely able to get ice screws into the glacier and anchor our tents in before our hands were freezing. We warmed up in our sleeping bags and rode out the crazy storm all night. The next day we woke up to beautiful views of Mt. Cook and the surrounding glaciers. I would love to write more, but internet is expensive here. I will try to keep blogging and putting pics on.