Weekend adventures

It has been a while since my last post because when we travel on the weekend we are completly unconnected from life, i.e. phones, email, internet etc....so no time to update you all on our outings. And during the week, well I am supposed to be here to work! 
Outing to the Glaciers

About 1.5 hours south of Hokitika are two glaciers, Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. 

Both are nestled in the Southern Alps, in the Westland National Park, surrounded by rain forest.  They are the worlds steepest and fastest flowing commercially guided glaciers. They are near Mt. Cook, the tallest moutian in New Zealand at 12,000 feet, and one of them is a twenty square mile snow field.  Over 100 feet of snow each year is added to the glaciers. That snow field has spawned a glacier which moves ten times the speed of normal glaciers. Fox Glacier plows forward at a rate of thirty feet per day. Due to its speed, it survives down to an altitude of 1,000 feet, where it grinds through rain forest. The bottom edge of the glaciers are only a few kilometers from the Tasman Sea.  It's really amazing......glacier, rain forest, ocean....how's that work?  We drove down there and took a hike to see the bottom edge of a glacier.

The glacier itself runs for nine miles. At its end, tourists can approach within 600 feet of its massive face.

Approaching Franz Josef Glacier

Surrounding landscape

Taking it in

In 2009, two tourists ignored the warning signs to get pictures closer to the glacier. They were crushed by a chunk of ice weighing over 100 tons. One of their bodies was found 6 miles downstream. The glacier can be very dangrous.

Flat ranger, one of their most effective safety signs, telling me to stop here. The full size ranger works in my office.  I haven't got to the nerve to ask him for a side by side photo with the real ranger yet.  I'm told this sign and fencing gets moved ever few days as the glacier moves. 

Outing to the Heaphy Hut

New Zealand has an extensive hut system which is turuly one of the most amazing ways to enjoy the country.There are huts everywhere that you can hike to and stay overnight.  It's like back packing without the need for carrying a tent and sleeping pad.  The region of the Dept. of Conservation has 160 huts in this region alone. There are several "Great Walks" - multiday hiking trails (called treks here) with huts along the way.  The Heaphy Trail is one of the great walks.  We went into the Heaphy Hut for a one night stay, just in and out from one end of the trail, although most of the people we met at the hut had hikes the trail from end to end. Our hike was 4.5 hours all along the coast, in and out of the edge of the rainforest.  The 4.5 hour walk gave me plenty of time to contemplate what I really, really did not need to put in my pack for the next tramp in the woods.  This hut is on a reservation system and accommodates 28 people.  The 10th Mountain huts in Colorado are the things that remind me most of these huts.  Most of the huts are first come first serve so we’ll have to start early in the day to make sure we get a roof over our head!

Karamea - the town at the end of the road before the Heaphy Trek - Lea fits right in!

The start of the Trek - says it's 5 hours to the hut




One of several swing bridges on the trek - max capacity 5 people...are they considering that extra dam person on my BACK



The tramp (trail - not the people)




More Tramping

And more

And more.......

Also went through the bush (forest)

The HUT!  This one is sized for 28 people..kind of tight quarters...listened to snoring choruses most of the night.  This hut is being replaced shortly, it's one of Tom's projects.  It won't have much more capacity but will have more floor space.


Back of the hut, view from the toilets.



The toilets!  Yes, they are flush toilets.  Unbelievable.  Everything at the hut is serviced by helicopter.  DOC owns and manages the huts, it's a big part of their operations.

 

One of the things I don't like about New Zealand are the sand fies.  I now know where the term "little bugger" has come from.  They are mean blood suckers but fortunately were only at the trailhead at the start of the hut and around the hut at night.  This is me in sand fly protection gear.  They weren't going to get me tonight.  They aren't bad at the ocean front with a nice breeze either so I was a little over protected for this outing.

Father -daughter contemplation ---- "What a nice mom you have Lea"  :)

A new friend on the trail - he didn't mind if I am a slow hiker.

Surfing and Seals

After our second day of 4.5 hours of hiking, we found a comfortable motel to stay in for the night and rest our feet.  The next day we found a beautiful swimming beach where Greg and Lea took a surfing lesson and I enjoyed swimming in the ocean.The beach was a perfect location to learn to surf because it had constant waves and gradualy got deeper.  Lots of perfect waves!  It's definitely more comfortable swimming in a shorty or wet suit. 

Greg, Lea and the instructor - rented full wet suits and big floaty boards - they both got up

My company on the beach

Surfs up dude (and dudette)

Hang Ten

 The beach is close to a Seal Colony - the babies were born about 1 month ago


At first it was hard to see the seals but then as you got used to spotting them there were several mommas and babies.  There's one in the middle of this photo to the right of the white thing, just above the grass.

Friday Night Happenings in Hokitika

We'll have to compare the most popular two locations but we hear the best fish and chips are at Dulcies.

Take away Friday night meal - Fish and Chips

Back "Home" and fun around Hokitika

We had to move out of the house this week for two nights because the house had been previously rented for a big event here, the Coast to Coast race.  Crazy fit people kayak, bike and run from Hokitika to Christchurch in either one or two days.   Competitors cycle 140 kms (three stages of 55km, 15 km and 70 km), run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge.  Top competitors take ten and three quarter hours to cover the 243kms while the slowest time ever recorded was twenty-four and a half hours.

There wasn't much to see since they start real early but there were a lot of cars in town with long skinny kayaks on top. 

Anyway we are back "home" now and settling in. 

We've had time last weekend to explore the area a little.  Greg and Lea went to see the Crusaders play rugby.  The Crusaders are a part of New Zealand regional league.  We've got to figure out the rules for that since it's THE big sport around here.  New Zealand hosted the world cup tournament last year and the home team the All Blacks won.  Some players from the All Blacks were on the Crusaders team.

Really?  What are they doing?



A couple of weekends ago Hokitika sponsored a driftwood sculpture competition....people were really creative.  We walk by these on our beach walks. 

Mooooo

We also were shown this awesome swimming hole on a near by river.  Me Jane you Tarzan.  I didn't have the nerve to do the swing rope but did jump in from the tree.  Quite refreshing!

There's (my) Tarzan swinging into the river in a colorful bathing suit! 

Monday February 6, was a national holiday, Waitangi Day.  The holiday marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs signed what is New Zealand’s founding document.  There were no special events like fireworks around but it did mean an extra day off so we drove north to Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and beautiful coast line.  At certain tides, winds and currents there are holes and spaces in the rocky formations on the coast that create blow holes or huge spouting of water.  We didn't see that this time but it was awesome.  One interesting event (interesting for us anyway) was that someone had fallen on the rocks nearby and hurt himself bad enough that he couldn't hike out and needed medical attention.  Someone called the emergency number (like 911) and a helicopter came to resue the man and bring him to the hospital.  There is a lot of helicopter traffic around here, I guess it's the easiest way to get access. 

Figuring out the traffic signs.  Unfortunately didn't see any of these critters.

All in a day's work

Second day of work I was able to accompany two different co-workers on site visits.  The first site visit was done to perform a soil investigation to classify soil for a toilet building foundation design.  Second site visit was to grab topsoil samples for lab testing to determine the characteristics of the topsoil to finalize the replanting spec section of a contract to construct a parking lot at a trailhead.  Third site visit was to do a final inspection of a pedistrian suspension bridge.  The first two sites could be accessed by car, through beautiful mountainous terrain with tropical vegetation.  The last site required a 3 mile walk along the coast on the way out and then a hike back on the terrace because the tide had come in and we couldn't walk back along the coast.

Lake at Campground getting new toilet building
somewhere south of Hokitika

Vault toilet to be replaced - new drainfield going in near here.  Just cut the bush (forest) down, test the soils for perc and put it in.  The roots are not very deep.  There are no open spaces to locate a drainfield here.

Extend the vent stack above tree height!

S

Cute excavator (the equipment :)) small and easy to transport on a trailer

Suspension Bridge across Okarito lagoon, the mouth of the lagoon was closed off to the river today becasue of sand deposition.  With some rougher water on the Tasman Sea the deposits will shift and the lagoon will flow freely into/out of the sea.  Looks a little stagnant in this photo.  It was decided to leave the old bridge piers in place for historic and safety reasons. They didn't want cut off piers just below water level incase people jump in.  It was load tested before I crossed!

In-house design by structural engineer.  It's interesting that the only discipline that is kept as in-house design is structural engineering due to laibility issues.  All other design diciplines are done by consulting firms.  The structural engineers working for DOC are highly regarded in the country as being experts in their field.

View of the Tasman Sea on the hike back along the terrace.

First Day Blunders

I meant to say inside out...that's worse than backwards I think?  Seams showing, label visible after meeting someone for the first time...yeah you got the picture...

Life, School, Work in Hokitika and First Day Blunders

Friday, February 3

We are making our rental house feel like home.  The location, one block from the beach, is awesome.  We've taken the opportunity to walk on the beach almost every day.  People are so friendly and have offered us "bits and bobs" to make the house more comfortable. 

Lea registered for school, her classes are Math, English, Chemistry, Photography and Outdoor Education.  First term of Outdoor Ed is kayaking and second term is outdoor survival skills.  Wish I could take this class.  At registration, I metioned we needed dresser drawers and the dean of year 13, who was helping Lea choose classes, mentioned that he had a few dressers stored in the corner of his garage that were not being used.  After showing us around the school he hopped in our car and we drove to his house to pick up two bed tables and two sets of dresser drawers!  Lea had a hard time imagining this scenario play out with any of the admin staff at Lakewood High School!  This is typical of what we have been experiencing from the locals so far.  School had some leadership activities the two days before school officially started, which gave Lea the opportunity to get to know her classmates.  Twenty four students in year 13, including an exchange student from Genoa, Italy and two New Zealanders who have moved here from South Africa and Missouri.  In other grades there are also students from Japan, Germany and some students coming later from Thailand.  It's amazing how strong the international presence is.

Anyway, for the first day of school there was a welcoming ceremony for the youngest grade students, new students and parents.  I was untypically early and didn't know exactly where to go and sit.  I looked in the hall and saw adults and students sitting in rows and joined them there.  After the ceremony started the parents and new students came in from another door and I realized I was sitting with the teachers and upper grade students!  OOOPS.  Greg was in the right place and wondering where I had gone since he drove there and I rode "my" bike so that I could head off to work after the ceremony.  The ceremony included several Maori songs, a Maori speaker as well as english speaking school staff.  It was somewhat of a handoff of the care taking, well being and education of the kids from the primary school to the high school.  The principal of the school wore a coat of feathers, which I assume was representative of a Maori leader.

Westland High School Principal Welcoming New Students and Their Parents On the First Day of School

Then I was off to my first day at work.  It involved meeting lots of people, learning the organizational structure and meeting with the people I will be most involved with and discussing project work and goals for both the DOC and me.  All was terrific.....until I got home and Greg pointed out that my white tee shirt I'd wore all day was on BACKWARDS!!!!  Geez....  I need my peeps!  Girlfriends, I'll never be able to replace you but I better find some 6-month fill ins!  :) 

Highlights of Travel Day - Christchurch and Flight to Hokitika

January 31, 2012

It's been a few days since we've been here but I want to recapture our travel day(s!). We left Denver on Jan. 28 and arrived on Jan. 30. Sounds longer than it is since we crossed the date line.  We left our house at 11 AM on Saturday the 28th and arrived (Denver time) at 9 PM Sunday.  If you ever fly to New Zealand or Australia or the islands near here about 1/2 way through the flight remember that the destination is worth the flight.  New Zealand Air does a good job of making it as good as possible, but economy class is economy class and there's only so much you can do.  That said, we did really enjoy many things during the travel day.  We had a six hour lay over in Christchurch.  The airport is easy to navigate and not far from the city.  We stored our carry on luggage and took a bus into Christchurch.  The effects of the earthquake are very visible.  There is an area of downtown, approximately 6 blocks x 6 blocks, which is completely closed off with fencing.  Behind the fence, there are empty high rises, low buildings and construction equipment rebuilding.  Natural curiosity makes looking at what's going on behind the fence an attraction.  Nearby you can look in windows and shops of stores and restaurants that look like no one entered once they ran out during the earthquake.  There's a restautant window with dirty plates on the table, chairs askew and a hat on the floor.  Another shop window had lots of shirts on the floor that had been folded on shelves and fell to the floor during the major earthquake last year.  Imagine being a city planner and deciding how to rebuild a city and tourism QUICKLY after an event like this.  One amazing rebuild approach they have taken is construction of an outdoor shopping mall constructed with shipping containers.  The logo Re:Start is trendy and the rebuilt mall is really attractive in a simple, clean and modern way.  Stores, restaurants, public bathrooms and the bus station are all rebuilt with the shipping containers. We spent time in this area and then sat by the river where I took a power nap laying in the sun on a grassy river bank. 

Program Logo

Christchurch - City Mall on Cachel Street

A single shipping container

I think it's a great idea!

Following our quick trip to Christchurch we took the bus back to the airport and got on a 20 seater plane for the short 35 minute beautiful flight to Hokitika.  We were blessed with a crystal clear day that allowed us to see the spectacular landscape we were flying over.  We flew over the southern alps and the tallest mountain in New Zealand, Mt. Cook.  With our noses plastered to the little windows my mind kept thinking about how CRAZY the coast to coast racers are.  On Feb. 10-11 there is a coast to coast race, Hokitika to Christchurch, where the racers run, bike and kayak from one place to the other OVER THESE MOUNTAINS.  Appently the fastest racers do this in 12-13 hours and some do it in teams and take two days.  Yes there is a road to do part of this race on, but still........

We were greeted at the airport by the Hopkins family, which was just the start to our warm welcome in Hokitika. 

The view

More of the View

First stop from the airport.....overlooking Hokitika

Home away from home

"Our" beach - the Tasman Sea, a segment of the Pacific Ocean

That's it for now....I've only got a couple more days to tell you about to catch up!