"The Amazing Milford Sound"

One of the most renouned places to visit in New Zealand is the Milford Sound.

We were very curious to find what the difference was between a Fjord and a Sound and here is the answer: A Fjord is carved out by a glacier and is V-shaped under the water, whereas a Sound is carved out by a river and is U-shaped under the water. Fjords are only on the same latitude both above and below the equator. Hence, New Zealand, Chile and Norway have Fjords. Anyways, that's all technical bobbledy-gook.

One of our friends told us that Milford Sound wasn't all that the night before we left. I was a bit concerned if it would live upto our expectations. We were also told that in the morning it is so misty/foggy that you can't see much. That doubled my concern as Gin and I decided to take the first ferry to see the Milford Sound. The first ferry was at 9:30am, which meant we would have to leave Te Anau at 7:00am.

When we woke up in the morning at Te Anau, it was absolutely misty and we couldn't see much. So our concerns were real. We decided to drive up to Milford Sound anyways. It's about a 2 hour drive to get to Milford Sound from Te Anau. The mist made the visibility extremely poor. As we got closer to Milford Sound, to my surprise, the mist was starting to clear up. The drive to Milford Sound was absolutely stunning as we got closer to it. It reminded me of the Einstein's quote, "I love to travel, but hate to arrive." The journey leading to Milford Sound was so amazing, I was a bit worried if Milford Sound itself would be quite as incredible.

Our rental car company, Jucy, had an awesome 2-for-1 deal with Cruize Milford. Luckily, the first boat leaving at 9:30am had only 9 passangers in total on a boat with a capacity of about 100 people. This was the reason why Gin and I wanted to take the earliest cruise. By noon the place gets overrun by tourist and it spoils the beauty of the Sound.

Anyways, even before the cruise departed the terminal, the views were specticular. There was no mist or fog and it was a clear beautiful day. The cruise took about 90 minutes to complete with some of the most specticular natural beauty I've ever encountered. It was above and beyond both of our expectations. Snow covered mountains around with numerous waterfalls in the short visinity. We encountered seals along the way. It rains in Milford Sound about 160 days for a total of about 7 meters annually making it one of the most wetest places on earth. We lucked out with the clear blue skies with no visible signs of rain for miles. Both Gin and I thought that it was one of the best places on earth.

"Freefalling"

NOTE: CLICK ON THE PICS TO SEE FULL SIZE!





What can I say, it is the craziest thing I've ever done so far in my life! After much thinking and peer pressure, I decided to do the bungy jump. The jump was from top of the Kawarau Bridge (43 meters, abt. 150ft.). I don't think I have experienced anything close to this before. It was pure adrenaline rush. Standing on the ledge I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. The freefall was incredible and the dip inside the water should've been cold, but I was just so high on adrenaline, I couldn't feel cold water at all.

A Queenstown must do and certainly a New Zealand must do. Thanks to Fred and Gin, I got the entire experience on photo and video. Fred took the pictures and Gin recorded the video. Enjoy the pictures and try to feel the same adrenaline rush if you can!

Skiing in New Zealand

Today we went upto the Treble Cone ski field. I was really excited about skiing in New Zealand. The best part about coming up to the ski field was that our rental car was paying for the lift, so all I had to do was rent skis, boots and polls. Luckily, renting them in town was the cheapest option ($20 skis, boots and polls). So it was pretty awesome skiing for only $20 instead of paying $125 (Treble one day package with lift and rentals).

The visitor center had informed us that Treble Cone was an intermediate to advanced level mountain. They did not have much of beginner runs. After much consideration, Gin decided not to go because of the level of the mountain. It was a smart decision.

Once I was all geared up and ready to hit the slopes, I came across Russ. He was an instructor at Treble Cone. It's a funny coincidence that he was from Vermont and grew up skiing at Berkshire East, the same place I learned how to ski. He was a totally awesome guy and very friendly. Him and I hit the slopes together and he gave me important tips about my skiing. It was definitely worth it. It was just fun to be skiing with someone and since it was my first time at Treble Cone I was a little nervous. I felt totally at ease and I was totally honest about my level of experience.

We took the lift from the base and got to 1760 meters. The views were incredible. We went down "Twister" and picked up "Easy Rider" (Green circle, beginner level run). Russ was quite impressed with my form and told me I was taught well. Thanks to dad (Doug, my father-in-law), I felt quite at ease on skis. Russ thought I was totally ready for the intermediate level (Blue square, intermediate level run). I wasn't sure if I was, but I trusted his judgement. I was especially not sure about intermediate level because he told me that the intermediate level slopes at Berkshire are like beginner level slopes at Treble Cone. Anyhow, we went to some basic intermediate level slopes and it was awesome. We took the lift once more and this time around we took the Saddle Track to Pete's Treat. Russ' tips really helped me get back to the base of the mountain. I did fall along the way, but it was a "good" fall. The third time around we went from Upper High Street to Raffills Run to Pete's Treat. Raffills' run was more difficult than earlier run. I enjoyed it a lot, especially after falling once more.

Once the lesson was over around noon, I gave Gin all the inside scoop on mountain. We took the base lift together so we could see the beautiful views from the top. She enjoyed it.

I continued skiing and took "Upper High Street" to "Raffills Run" to "Ego Alley". I also tried "Main Street" all on my own and it was incredible. It was scary, but in New Zealand there just means adrenaline. I stayed on the mountain until the last lift and had an awesome time. Just wish I could have done it along with Gin or dad.

First Big New Zealand Disappointment

Finally, the much awaited Franz Josef Glacier hike. This was one thing I was totally psyched about. So here is the verdict. It was a disappointment to it's fullest. Now that I have some bases to compare the hike with (Tongariro Crossing), I can certainly say that I was disappointed at the tour that wasn't all the hype they make it. Tongariro Crossing was by far the best.

It cost me $130 to hike Franz Josef Glacier ($10 discount of YHA card), whereas Tongariro Crossing cost me $100. Franz Josef we hiked upto about 180 meters (roughly 550 ft.) as opposed to Tongariro Crossing (2000 meters, 6600 ft.). It took about 8.5 hours to do Tongariro Crossing which was 18 kilometers long. Franz Josef wasn't even remotely close to it.

Ofcourse, one would say they're totally different kinds of hikes, one is a glacier (Franz Josef) and the other one is a volcanic mountain (Tongariro Crossing). The views at Tongariro Crossing were breathtaking. The views at Franz Josef weren't bad, but they weren't incredible. I guess Franz Josef was just pretty much about glaciers.

The best thing that happened at Franz Josef Glacier hike was meeting Frederico (Fred) Miranda from Brazil. We had a lot of fun making fun of the guide and just cracking jokes at people. Christian and Catherine we also on the same glacier hike. We meet them when we were kayaking in Abel Tasman Natiional Park on Gin's birthday.

After the hike, we decided to meet at a local bar (Blue Ice Cafe). We hungout until 2am. It was a lot of fun talking and just having a few beers. It was also cool meeting new people and making new friends around the world.

Gin's birthday!!!

For my birthday, we decided to take a kayaking trip along the coast of Abel Tasman National Park. It is a really beautiful national park on the northern coast of the South Island. We signed up for a half day trip.

When we got there at 8:30, we met our guide Sam. There were three other people in our group: Christian and Katherine from Germany and Julia from France. By the time we got all of our gear and Sam showed us some paddling techniques, it was about 10. We finally set out on our adventure.

The kayaks were two person boats so Jigar and I were in the same one. We are not experienced kayakers so it took us a little while to figure the whole thing out. Once we got going, it was really fun. About that time, Sam told us that it was about time for us to go back. We had just gotten going! We decided to extend to the full day.

We ended up kayaking over to a really beautiful beach with golden sand and blue water to have lunch at. We were the only ones at the beach. In fact, we were close to the only ones in the sea! It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I forgot to hold the kayak after I got out which meant that Jigar fell out of the boat when he tried to get out. Oops! The water was a bit chilly (8 or 9 degrees Celsius), but he was a good sport about it. Luckily, Sam had some dry clothes for him to change into.

Since we hadn't signed up for the whole day, they didn't have lunch for us. There was a little soup left over that we split and we had granola bars and apples that we had brought. Sam gave Jigar half of his muffin. In the end, we had enough to eat.

After lunch, we paddled over to an island where the seal pups live. They were so cute! They came right up to the kayaks and they were playing on the rocks right next to us. We hung out there for a while and then we headed up the coast some more. We went through some rocks by the coast. It was difficult navigating, but it was so much fun.

By the time we met up with the water taxi that would take us back, we had paddled 17 kilometers! We were a little bit sore the next day, but it was well worth it. It was the best birthday I ever had.

Pictures: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27949&l=bca47&id=813269869

The Snout Track

We safely arrived in Picton on the South Island after an uneventful three hour ferry crossing. After grabbing a quick lunch, we headed for the snout track. It is supposed to be a really beautiful walk and we weren't disappointed. With all of the mud along the way, it took us about 4 hours. The view was incredible and there were seals along the way just playing and hanging out. Jigar got within a couple of feet of one of them!

Our adventures in Wellington

We left Wellington this morning. We spent three days with our friends Poppy and Jamie. We had a great time.

On Tuesday, we got to Wellington. It was pouring rain! We decided to go to Te Papa. Its the national museum. That kept us busy the whole day. Its a really good museum.

On Wednesday, we went to visit Poppy's school (she's a teacher). It was very interesting to see a New Zealand high school. High school here goes from year nine through year thirteen, which is the equivalent of our grades 8 through 12. The kids were not so very different than the kids you see in an American high school. The whole atmosphere was so much more relaxed, though. The day starts with a staff meeting at 8:30. The first class is at 9. Each class is an hour long. There is a 20 minute break from 10 to 10:20. Everyone gets lunch from 12:20 to 1:20. The day ends at 3:20. Everyone seemed a lot less stressed than at an American school. We visited 2 math classes of different levels and then we visited Poppy's digital art class. We got a chance to talk to the kids about the differences between the American schools and NZ schools. It was really cool.

After spending the morning at the school, we went to Mt. Victoria to see some more Lord of the Rings filming sites. It took us a while to match the spot described in our book to the actual location, but we found it in the end and then we took lots of pictures. After that we went to the summit to watch the sunset.

On our last day, I don't even know what we did. Just kind of relaxed and didn't do much of anything. We kidnapped Jamie from work and had lunch with him. Then we watched the Fellowship of the Ring (the first LOTR movie) in the afternoon. After looking at so many of the filming sites, we had to watch one of the movies! Then we went out to dinner with Poppy. She took us to an amazing Malaysian place called Satay Village. We went out for ice cream afterwards at our new favorite ice cream place, Kaffee Eis. It is even better than Movenpick (our favorite from Auckland)! NZ has amazing ice cream.

This morning we woke up early, said our goodbyes, and boarded the ferry for the South Island. We are really excited to see what the South Island holds.

More pictures: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27412&l=66ec5&id=813269869

Pictures... finally!

Wai-O-Tapu 8/7/08 (Jigar's birthday): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27384&l=90d36&id=813269869

Hangi 8/7/08 (Jigar's birthday dinner): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27391&l=85e6a&id=813269869

Taupo 8/9/08 and 8/11/08: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27408&l=de9e9&id=813269869

Middle Earth 8/13/08: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27412&l=66ec5&id=813269869

The Road to Wellington: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27411&l=3f28a&id=813269869

Tongariro Crossing - Taupo

After much talks about Tongariro Crossing being the best one day hike in New Zealand, I had a chance to experience it myself.

Gin and I did some research about doing the Tongariro Crossing and found out that it was a full day hike about 8 hours long. They also said it was a challenging hike, especially around this time of the year when the mountains are covered in snow. So we decided that I will go do the hike and Gin will spend the day in a spa. Unfortunately, beacause of severe wind and bad weather they had canceled all hikes on the mountain for Saturday, August 9th. Sunday was subject to good weather, so we waited until Saturday 2pm and found out that the crossing was open for Sunday August 10th. We booked the hike with Alpine Crossing because you need mountain climbing equipment during winter. I was nervous and excited about the hike.

Jared from Alpine crossing came to pick me up at 6:20am and I almost missed the pickup. After getting on the bus with rest of the crazy people wanting to do the same, we drove towards the town of Turangi before reaching the base camp at the Tongariro Crossing. We were given specific instructions to layer up with clothing as it got extremely cold at about 2000 meters (about 6600 feet high). We also had to bring our own food and water. They did provide us with a guide, crampons (kinda like the shoes soccer players wear with nails in the bottom to dig into ice) and walking stick. Our guides were Sarah and Caroline. Sarah lead the group (25 people) in the front and Caroline stayed in the back.

We started the track with an easy hour walk to the base of the mountain. This was where I saw the beautiful snow covered mountain Mt. Ngauruahoe (Mt. Doom from Lord of The Rings). It was a beautiful view with Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngauruhoe, and Mt. Tongariro covered entirely in snow. Mt. Ngauruhoe is the tallest of the three mountains.

About another hour into the walk, we were required to put the crampons on because the snow was now becoming ice. This was my first time putting the crampons on and I did a terrible job putting them on. Caroline had to stop me along the track and redo my crampons. Thanks to her, otherwise it could have gotten ugly when we were climbing some of the hardest part of the track.

I took so many beautiful pictures of this majestic place that I had to literally keep the camera out almost the entire track. I am glad I did that, but unfortunately, it's impossible the capture the real thing. The pictures don't do justice to how incredible the views were. It was like a desert, except the sand had been replaced with snow. The wind was so strong that it was blowing snow across like sand in desert. It was bone chilling cold with real bad wind chill. The moisture in the air had been converted into ice on the poles where there were markers on the track.

Finally, we reached the summit after about 4 hours. At this point, we were inside the clouds and the visibility was poor. At 2000 meters, on top of the summit, there was barely any snow. Because of the mountain being an active volcano, the top of the mountain there was no snow. Infact, I sat on the ground and it felt like a heated car seat except the seat was at 2000 meters on top of Mt. Tongariro where everything was covered in snow except the top.

It was so cold and so much snow that the emerald lakes were entirely covered in snow. So we couldn't see the emerald lakes from the summit of the Mt. Tongariro.

We started heading back down a few meters before we decided to have lunch. I was starving. I didn't care how cold the sandwich was, it tasted good. At this point we had another 4 hours to go around the mountain and down the mountain.

As we were heading up towards the north face of the mountain, I had a very bad cramp in my upper right thigh. Since I was too busy taking pictures I didn't realize that I was the only one left all the way back and the entire group was beyond my sight. I could barely up the mountain as the cramp got worse. As I was struggling to go up the mountain, another guy who was taking so picutres saw me limping and volunteered some help. He grabbed the front of the walking stick and I grabbed the back of the walking stick as she pulled me up the mountain. I was a little scared and embarrased about the cramp, but after a few meters my cramp was gone. I felt very relieved as I stretched my leg to make sure I didn't feel the cramp anymore.

The north face of the mountain was quite challenging because we were walking on a steep slope. Walking sideways on a steep mountain with crampons wasn't an easy task. The was no margin of error. Sarah made sure that we went extremely slow through this part of the mountain.

Once we went around the mountain, we had an option of either walking down the mountain or sliding down the mountain. I chose to slide down the mountain. It was awesome. It was like sledging with the sledge. I slid to about half way down and then I had to walk the rest of the way down. The views from this point were incredible.

After 7 hours, we reached the end of the crossing. We were back to no snow land. We still had another hour and half walk down the jungle and back to the other side of the mountain where our bus was waiting to pick us up. Nice cold drinks were waiting for us at the end.

I was so exhausted at the end, but the adrenaline was still pumping through my veins. I thought that I could do the entire track again. I realize now why mountain climbers say that you have to respect the mountain because the conditions on these mountains can get worse any moment and you have to be prepared to face the worst. Luckily, the mountain was good to us that day and it was a beautiful clear sky which allowed me to take some incredible pictures. This was my first snow mountain climbing experience and it was one incredible experience.

29th Birthday!

Ah, 29th birthday. It's like being 19 and waiting to turn 20, except this time it is waiting to turn 30. Well I gotta say it was a pretty awesome birthday.

Gin and I had planned the entire day in advance and we knew exactly what we were going to do. Just didn't know if it'd be fun, but it was. In the morning, we went to Wai-o-Tapu geothermal pools. It was pretty awesome. I had never seen geothermal pools before and I had no idea what beautiful colors you can see. Aparently, the water temperature in these geothermal pools range anywhere from 100 degrees celcius to 300 degrees celcius. Pretty hot to stick your finger in and see if it's hot. No guarantees if you'd get your finger back intact. Luckily, there were signed posted all over the place to stay on track and not to stick your finger in places it shouldn't be :)

In the afternoon Gin and I had a couple of hours to rest before heading out for dinner at the village of Mitai. The tour was suppose to be an insight into how Maori (natives to the land) people lived before the British people arrived. In Maori language New Zealand was called the land of the long white cloud which to me sounds more poetic than New Zealand. A Dutch sailor arrived from Zealand and called it the New Zealand named after the town he came from. Maori people came from Hawaiki (Hawaii) and settled in the south pacific. What is amazing about the Maori people in New Zealand is that throughout New Zealand, all the tribes spoke one language (Maori) unlike other places where different languages evolved with different tribes.

In the evening the tour bus came to pick us up at our campsite and brought us to the village of Mitai. We had a chance to look at a reenactment of how the warriors would arrive in Waka (war canoe) lead by their tribe chief. We also had an opportunity to see their traditional dance of Haka which was interesting. Gin and I personally loved the tribe chief because he did a tremendous job explaining how Maori people used to live their day-to-day life. Dancing, singing, exercising, weapons, etc was demonstrated to give the tribe of 18 nations (our tour group which consisted of 18 different nationalities) a better understanding of the Maori culture. Hongi was also demonstrated where two people greet each other by touching each other's nose gently, kinda like a handshake. After the cultural part of the evening, there was a big feast awaiting. They called it Hangi. The food is prepared by cooking it underground for several hours. It was pretty good. After the dinner, people were taken in different groups to see the glowworms in the forest and a little tour about different types of trees in their village. It was pitch dark, but thanks to little handheld torches, we were able to guide ourselves through the forest without tripping over something.

All in all, I thought this was a pretty awesome birthday. I was reminiscening my 22nd birthday which I spent in Rome, Italy checking our the beautiful old city and enjoying an evening of awesome Italian food and wine. I was also thinking of my 27th birthday which I spent in Koh Tao, Thailand getting my scuba diving license. This birthday would certainly rank high up there among those memorable birthdays.