Day 5 - Ferry to Pichton and Kaikoura

From Wellington we took a ferry across the Cook Strait to the South Island.  We were supposed to go whale watching that afternoon but it was canceled due to the conditions on the water.  Instead we checked out some seal colonies and went on a pretty hike along the coast.  The wind was so intense on the hike that at one point I thought I was going to get blown off the side of the trail...for some reason no one else was doing this very popular hike that day...

Ferry ride to the South Island

Lots of seals in their pups that are probably only days old.

more moms and pups.

This was on our windy hike at Kaikoura.  I thought we were going to get blown away.  

Another windy day

Day 4- Windy Wellington

We drove to Wellington which it tuns out is quite windy.  It is the southern point of the north island where we would catch the ferry to the South Island.  We decided to check out the parliament building which is called the beehive due to its shape.  When  we arrived they asked us if we'd like to observe parliament debating.  That sounded interesting so we did.  It was very scripted and formal but there was lots of heckling from the opposing sides.
Then we did a hike just outside of town called Rimutaka or as I call it the hike from hell.  Here are the things that happened on this hike:

• we started in a light mist but within 10 minutes it was an all out downpour.  It seemed to subside so we kept going.
• We passsed 3 guys near the beginning. I thought one of one was carrying a walking stick in an odd way.  Matt later told me it was some kind of large gun.  
• The hike said it was 50 minutes walk to a cool river bank and hut.  After 1 hour and 10 minutes and it was still raining we turned around.  Mind you we were pretty soaked and I had just worn running shoes because I thought we were going for a short walk in relatively dry conditions.  I spent most of my time dodging puddles so my feet didn't get totally soaked.  I was done with this hike long before Matt was ready to turn around.  
• within 10 minutes of turning around, I slipped on a tree root and managed to fall in in a huge puddle. Completely soaked from the waist down and my legs bleeding in a few places, we continued on.
• Matt asked for the camera a few minutes later when we realized it was in the bag that I had landed on during the fall and no longer worked.
• A few minutes later I heard a loud stampede sound, and looked into the valley below us to see deer tearing in the opposite direction.  Mind you, the only deer in New Zealand are on deer farms.  These must have escaped.
• A few minutes later Matt heard a cracking noise and looked up just in time to see a large branch fall right in front of him.  
• Not my favorite hike but at least we survived.  Here's a few pics that we took with the ipad which managed to survive the fall into the mud puddle.

This is me after the fateful fall that killed the camera...but at least the iPad survived.

The vegetation was like we were in Jurassic Park...which incidentally was filmed in NZ,

Matt took this one on our way back into Wellington from the hike.  Looked like there was a spotlight on the little island.

Day 2- black water rafting

Sorry.  No pictures of that because it was a bit wet...little did we know our camera's life would soon be over...but more on that later.  Here is a link to the rafting website so you can get the idea.  Basically we got in wet suits and hiked to the caves but first they showed us how to jump backwards off a dock in our tube so we would know what to do when we got to a waterfall in the cave.  Then we climbed down into the caves and jumped in, there were parts we had to walk thru the water, lots of stalagmites and stalactites, waterfalls to jump into and at one point we all turned off our headlights to see the glow worms all over the cave.  It was like looking at stars in a clear sky.  The last stretch was completely dark and we had to wade our way to the opening and climb out of the cave.  Very fun time but I was ready for the hot soup and bagels they gave us at the end once we got out of our wetsuits.

Day 3 Tongariro crossing

Tongariro Crossing is one of the most famous tramps in NZ but unfortunately a storm blew in the day we were scheduled to do it.  We didnt let that stop us though.  we're from Oregon...we can handle a little rain.  The up side was we saw very few people on this hike between 2 volcanoes (Tongariro and Ngaurohe-the area was used in the filming of The Lord of the Rings).  The downside was the volcanos were in the clouds, we got very wet and  near the end gale force winds started to blow so we turned around after hiking for about 3 hours.  What an adventure!  After we dried out a bit we checked out the visitor center and this beauty of a waterfall, Tawai Falls.  We had it all to ourselves.

Day 1 - Arrival in Auckland

The 2001 Nissan Sunny we rented.  I think it was like an old Nissan Sentra.  It worked great and had plenty of trunk space for all of our luggage.  Matt adjusted pretty quickly to driving on the left side of the road.

Matt at Piha beach - Tasman Sea

Seal Rock at Piha beach

Climbing up Seal rock

Hike Near Piha Beach.  Cool vegetation.  We felt like we were in an episode of Lost.

Cool waterfall.

It was so nice that we took of our shoes and walked in the water in Auckland.

Matt in front of our hotel in Auckland.  The kiwi international.  It was right downtown.  We walked to dinner for his birthday and walked around downtown.  there was also a yummy cafe just up the block, the Columbus that we went to for breakfast. Delicious cheese scone and a flat white( that's basically what they call a latte). There is no drip coffee here.  Only espresso and I think most people do French press or tea at home.  

Trip home for the 4th of july

Me and the brothas

Me and mandie

The name game got intense.  In the end Timmy beat us all.

Bridge Pedal 2012

I love my bike!

Matt loves his 8 ball bike.

on top of the St Johns Bridge (I think)

Matt and I did the Bridge Pedal 10 years ago (my first year in Portland) along with my roommate, Monica, and my cousin Erin who was visiting at the time.  We had a great time (minus one unfortunate incident that involved Erin and some railroad tracks) so we decided to do it again this year.  For those of you not from these parts, they close down a bunch of roads and some bridges so that 10,000 bicyclists can ride over the bridges and and stop and take great photos.  Anyway, it is basically a traffic nightmare whether you are driving a car or a bike but it was fun.  10 bridges, 40 miles, great views, great weather, a good time.