Stewart Island

My camera ran out of batteries and picture space before I got to Stewart Island, but the couple I stayed with, Jess and Stu, lent me their far superior camera. I burnt some 360 photos onto cd's, but my computer can't read them. Somehow I will figure this out, but for now you will have to settle for text.

John had to be back in Dunedin for a final so while he returned immediately after Kepler track, I went down to Stewart Island. Dr. Hayman, who helped put my shoulder back in working order, had worked in New Zealand for 10 years. He had mentioned in passing that if I ever needed a place to stay I should e-mail him. Little did he know I would take him up on that. Luckily for me, he knew Jess and Stu and they were nice enough to put me up for 4 nights even though they were in the process of moving and Jess was sick and 7 months pregnant. As payment I worked every morning helping them pack up and move, but every afternoon and evening I spent exploring. Stewart island is quite a place. I even had the opportunity to drink at the local bar, located in the hotel. It is one of the two southern most bars in the world, the other being in South America. When my stay was up, I took the ferry back across the straight, managed to get a good view of some dolphins, and hitched back to Dunedin from Bluff. Great times.

Postcards

Another Day in the Life

After a good hearty breakfast, usually of baked beans in tomato sauce and scrambled eggs over cheesy toast and a tall glass of water, I make my way out into the world. I usually go hang about the university, but I have no pictures to show you of that. I never remember to bring my camera to take pics, and I would feel weird walking around taking pictures of buildings. If you really want to see it I'm sure you can find images on google.


I keep all my worldly possessions in the closet shown as well as the floor. Mostly the floor.



I sleep in a bed with no sheets. I sleep in the sleeping back and on warmer nights I only need the sleeping bag liner I brought along. Every morning I wake up to see beautiful Jordan on the wall.

This is the view from my window at dusk. Not too shabby for student housing. Note the shirt hanging up to dry. We tend to air dry our clothes to save money on energy. When it gets dark I close the shades to keep in what little warmth has collected during the day, as there is no central heating in New Zealand. So my day in a nutshell: wake up in a sleeping bag on a sheetless bed, eat breakfast, go to campus, come back for lunch, maybe study, go to the bouldering gym or the basketball gym, come back for dinner, study/watch tv/hang out, shower and go to bed. It is a good life.



Usually around mid to late afternoon I head to the gym. I go 2-5 times a week. Otherwise I am loosing money. Plus this place is awesome. The wall to the left, which you can't see, is the most slanted. So far I have made 5 routes and have mastered 3 of them. There is only open climbing on Tuesday and Thursday nights and every other time you need to be a member to get in. Secret codes and all that jazz. Some of my favorite times in Dunedin have been going to this gym with a 6 pack, putting on music and working on bouldering routes for hours on end. When my hands burn too much I stop and drink a nice cold beer (it is always freezing in here) then keep at it. By the time I finish the pack I am usually having trouble holding the beer and it is time to longboard home.

Kepler Track -- The Heights

This is the view from hanging valley pass. For most of the day there were low lying clouds and on the hike up John and I couldn't see 30 m in any direction. We got more and more excited as peak after peak was exposed as the day progressed. In every direction, for as far as the eye can see, there are peaks and views just like this. The picture doesn't do justice.

The bird you see here is a Kea, or mountain parrot. It is remarkably large and is known to be annoyingly smart. This one, from the amount of bird shit around, seems to like to hang around the shelter right behind me taking this photo. They are a dark green with brown heads and have bright red feathering on their backs. They are very fuzzy and stout birds, which is good for the climate they live in. Unfortunately I couldn't capture it, but when the Kea takes off you see a flash of read and lighter green usually hidden under the wings.

Kepler Track -- The Lowlands

This is the view John and I got coming out of the trees. This clearing was caused by a giant mudslide in very heavy rains in 1984. There is a giant scar on the mountain to the left, out of the picture. The waterfall you see cascades out of a valley between two peaks and falls a good 300 feet to the rocks again. It is another 75 feet until the mountain rises vertically out of the ground. The mountains of the Fiordlands are pretty short, the highest in this area being just over 6200 feet, but they are relatively young and are still rising. They are composed of very hard rock and thus rise vertically for thousands of feet, unlike softer mountains that form gradual slopes. The highest point we reached was 5800 feet. The first 1200 feet were hiked in the first day, over 6 hours into the park. The next 4600 were hiked as the trail followed the most gradual slope around as it rose from the valley floor. For 4600 feet up, we hiked about 3000 feet in. Pretty fucking steep for the most gradual slope around.


Because the pass was impassable due to avalanche danger, we had to hike in and out along the same path. No complaints here though.

New Facial Hair

Before tonight, I hadn't shaved since the end of August. I took full advantage of the facial hair to create this work of art. Be in awe of the mustache-soul patch combo. This marks my first real attempt at facial hair grooming (besides simply shaving, of course). Mustache jokes have been played before, but this is the real thing. Note the symmetry between the mustache and eyebrow thickness. And the light reflected off my shiny clean chin to highlight the ass-like features of my face. Andy Warhol would be proud!

Catlins Pt. 2

This is the view from Nugget Point. Try and guess why it is named that.

These first three pics are from the beach about a 5 min walk from where we camped for the night. This beach is home to some of the worlds rarest penguins, the yellow eyed penguin. I didn't get a good photo of it, so there is really no reason to post it unless I get requests. Good beach though.