February 28th: Christchurch to Tekapo
After a relatively short bus ride from Christchurch, we landed in Tekapo around lunchtime. We had a bite to eat then checked into the Holiday Park where we were going to be camping.
It wasn't until we were done putting up the tent that Cody realized he'd forgotten his kindle on the bus...which was long gone 3 hours ago. We phoned and emailed the bus company leaving futile messages for its return.
There wasn't much else we could do since we were hopping on bikes the next day and heading 70 km down a dirt road towards Twizel.
Cody was distraught most of the evening because the return of his kindle was now in the hands of the bus companies inept customer service.
We hoped to see it in Twizel since it was part of the bus drivers route. But we didn't have high hopes.
The view from our dinner table at Lake Tekapo
March 1st: Biking day! Lake Tekapo to Twizel
Early morning we were squished in a phone booth hiding from the bitter wind waiting for the bike company to show. Luckily they were on time since we were freezing our buns off.
They quickly shoved bikes at us then headed out of the carpark and back on the road.
No singing useless papers, no explanation, no safety briefing...gotta love New Zealand!
The bikes we had were decent, or so I was told. Cody is the bike guru out of the two of us. I didn't learn how to ride till I was twelve, and hadn't been on a bike in quite a while. Yeah...This was going to be an interesting trip.
After a quick bike fitment we were off playing chicken with the early morning drivers on the highway. We turned onto a more remote dirt road which was wash boarded out, making it quite an abrasives ride for our arms, legs and butts.
We road by the beautiful lake Puhkaki which was surrounded by snow covered mountains. Mount cook was out there somewhere beyond the clouds.
We could see the rain coming in but it never hit us.
The water was beautifully blue.
We road into Twizel at around 3:30, passing Ken and Cam along the way. We were hoping to pass some TA hikers along the trail. These guys were our speediest friends so we took a lot more pleasure out of catching up to them on bikes.
Once we were off the bikes both of us could really feel soreness from our seats, and oddly enough... in our knees. Cody's was far worse which was quite a surprise. Neither of us had been conditioned to riding bikes in a while so we dismissed the aches and pains and moved on.
In addition to Ken and Cam we also saw Gill in town. Funny how we all seem to gather in the same areas despite our radically different hiking speeds.
March 2nd: Hitching and Kindles
After receiving zero information regarding Cody's lost Kindle we decided to step up our level of annoyance and call them directly. They told us to wait for an afternoon bus that was coming into town which "might" have the kindle. This would throw off our hiking plans but we were desperate to get it back.
Late afternoon the bus finally arrived...and it wasn't the same bus we were on. Gr! Luckily though a staff member from their lost items depot was on the bus and he claimed to have seen the kindle. He then gave us his personal contact info so we could have him send the Kindle onto the next town. Our lost hiking day was now worth it! We were getting the Kindle back. Unfortunatly we had to make up some miles and skip ahead if we wanted to keep our reservation for the next town.
We hitched as far as Birchwood road, intending to hike up and free camp before the trailhead. It was an extremely windy day and the only shelter was a stand of trees with a family of dead possums in it. The whole place had been poisoned...not very appealing. We chose to stay at the backpackers down the road instead.
March 3rd: Birchwood road carpark to Top Tirmaru Hut
The owner of the Dunstin Downs Backpackers gave us a lift to the carpark which was a big help. We were at the trailhead by 8:30, after saying our goodbyes we set off into what looked like a very menacing storm. But luckily for us it has cleared by the time we really got going.
It was probably the most windy day that we've had on the TA; a few times we were nearly blown over by gusts coming down the canyons. At least there was no rain.
Cody's knees were still sore from our 70 km bike ride and the hiking was aggravating them quite a lot.
We followed a bulldozer track for quite some time.
The guy who plowed this must have been crazy, or at least very determined.
The scenery was very dry but still beautiful.
The bulldozer track continued up and over a 5'000 ft. pass making a very impressive and much appreciated path for us to follow.
By the time we started the descent from the pass Cody could barely bend his left knee. We descended painfully and very slowly towards Timaru hut. Honestly we were very lucky that his knees have been holding up for so long, this was the first time he experienced real trouble.
We shared Timaru hut with a french couple who were also hiking the TA. Interesting note about this couple, they are using a wood powered stove for all of their cooking. This is the first time I've seen someone use wood instead of gas or alcohol. It worked quite well.
Cody propped up his knee for the rest of the evening and massaged the sore area.
Towards the end of the evening he was able to bend the knee again- thank goodness. We plan to continue on with our schedule and let his knee dictate the speed. Tomorrow is going to be a particularly rough day of sidling around a steep river and ascending a ridgeline to Pukituhi Hut.
March 3rd: There and back again...a limping tale
We attempted to walk towards breast hill from Top Timaru hut but barely made it 2 k's before I called it quits. We had a lot of sketchy mountain sidling ahead of us (which I hate/fear) and Cody was limping, almost to the point of peg legging.
His injury hadn't healed and both of us knew that this was far more serious than what we had thought. We turned back to the hut and spent the majority of the day resting up for the 24 km hike out. There was a lot of downhill ahead of us, but it was far easier and quicker to go back the way we had come rather than push onward for 3 more days.
March 4th: Hiking out
The hike out was brutal for Cody, his injured knee was giving him a lot of trouble when we descended 1200 meters to the valley floor. He was peg legging the whole way down, and his right leg was becoming fatigued from doing all the work. It was painful, but we got out...slowly. We passed a few TA hikers that we knew along the way, and had to explain that this injury was going to put us off the trail for good. It was disheartening to see our friends pass us on the trail; especially knowing that there was a good chance we weren't going to be seeing each other again.
Finally we got to the dirt road at the trailhead and began the long walk back to the highway. We headed for the only accomidation at the end if the road. We could have camped by the trailhead, but the whole area had recently been poisoned and we worried about the water quality.
A little ray of sunshine at the end of the road, we found what looked like a Texas Bluebonnet growing on the side of the highway just like how it would back home.
It took us a few tries but eventually we got a hitch the last 5k down the road to the backpackers. The people that had passed us on the road ended up in the same place. They were a little sheepish, I'm sure they never expected to see us again.
After staying up far too late chatting with some aussie's we finally headed to the tent and fell asleep with all our clothes on. It was a very cold night.
March 5th: Hitch to Wanaka
We packed up our stuff and got ready to hitch to Wanaka. Supposedly Cody's kindle was going to be delivered there.
Wanaka was insanely busy, thank goodness we had booked a room over a week in advance. It has become increasingly hard to find accomidation here in the South Island. Everyone says the tourist season is winding down, but I've found the opposite to be true.
After a little bit of drama, Cody finally got his kindle back. A true miracle!
Another stroke of luck happened while we were in Wanaka. We ran into some friends of mine from California that just so happened to be in Wanaka at the same time, small world!
They were stopping by in New Zealand after sailing the world for a whole year.
Paul and the gang
The kids trying on our backpacks, ours are considered pretty light, but on them they looked quite large a heavy.
As soon as we got the kindle and said our goodbyes to the CA gang Cody and I headed out of dodge to Twizel, a gateway to Mt. Cook. As long as we couldn't hike we'd see all the sites that the South Island had to offer. As New Zealands tallest peak, Mt. Cook is sure to be a worthwhile pursuit.
After a relatively short bus ride from Christchurch, we landed in Tekapo around lunchtime. We had a bite to eat then checked into the Holiday Park where we were going to be camping.
It wasn't until we were done putting up the tent that Cody realized he'd forgotten his kindle on the bus...which was long gone 3 hours ago. We phoned and emailed the bus company leaving futile messages for its return.
There wasn't much else we could do since we were hopping on bikes the next day and heading 70 km down a dirt road towards Twizel.
Cody was distraught most of the evening because the return of his kindle was now in the hands of the bus companies inept customer service.
We hoped to see it in Twizel since it was part of the bus drivers route. But we didn't have high hopes.
March 1st: Biking day! Lake Tekapo to Twizel
Early morning we were squished in a phone booth hiding from the bitter wind waiting for the bike company to show. Luckily they were on time since we were freezing our buns off.
They quickly shoved bikes at us then headed out of the carpark and back on the road.
No singing useless papers, no explanation, no safety briefing...gotta love New Zealand!
The bikes we had were decent, or so I was told. Cody is the bike guru out of the two of us. I didn't learn how to ride till I was twelve, and hadn't been on a bike in quite a while. Yeah...This was going to be an interesting trip.
After a quick bike fitment we were off playing chicken with the early morning drivers on the highway. We turned onto a more remote dirt road which was wash boarded out, making it quite an abrasives ride for our arms, legs and butts.
We road by the beautiful lake Puhkaki which was surrounded by snow covered mountains. Mount cook was out there somewhere beyond the clouds.
We could see the rain coming in but it never hit us.
The water was beautifully blue.
We road into Twizel at around 3:30, passing Ken and Cam along the way. We were hoping to pass some TA hikers along the trail. These guys were our speediest friends so we took a lot more pleasure out of catching up to them on bikes.
Once we were off the bikes both of us could really feel soreness from our seats, and oddly enough... in our knees. Cody's was far worse which was quite a surprise. Neither of us had been conditioned to riding bikes in a while so we dismissed the aches and pains and moved on.
In addition to Ken and Cam we also saw Gill in town. Funny how we all seem to gather in the same areas despite our radically different hiking speeds.
March 2nd: Hitching and Kindles
After receiving zero information regarding Cody's lost Kindle we decided to step up our level of annoyance and call them directly. They told us to wait for an afternoon bus that was coming into town which "might" have the kindle. This would throw off our hiking plans but we were desperate to get it back.
Late afternoon the bus finally arrived...and it wasn't the same bus we were on. Gr! Luckily though a staff member from their lost items depot was on the bus and he claimed to have seen the kindle. He then gave us his personal contact info so we could have him send the Kindle onto the next town. Our lost hiking day was now worth it! We were getting the Kindle back. Unfortunatly we had to make up some miles and skip ahead if we wanted to keep our reservation for the next town.
We hitched as far as Birchwood road, intending to hike up and free camp before the trailhead. It was an extremely windy day and the only shelter was a stand of trees with a family of dead possums in it. The whole place had been poisoned...not very appealing. We chose to stay at the backpackers down the road instead.
March 3rd: Birchwood road carpark to Top Tirmaru Hut
The owner of the Dunstin Downs Backpackers gave us a lift to the carpark which was a big help. We were at the trailhead by 8:30, after saying our goodbyes we set off into what looked like a very menacing storm. But luckily for us it has cleared by the time we really got going.
It was probably the most windy day that we've had on the TA; a few times we were nearly blown over by gusts coming down the canyons. At least there was no rain.
Cody's knees were still sore from our 70 km bike ride and the hiking was aggravating them quite a lot.
We followed a bulldozer track for quite some time.
The guy who plowed this must have been crazy, or at least very determined.
The scenery was very dry but still beautiful.
The bulldozer track continued up and over a 5'000 ft. pass making a very impressive and much appreciated path for us to follow.
By the time we started the descent from the pass Cody could barely bend his left knee. We descended painfully and very slowly towards Timaru hut. Honestly we were very lucky that his knees have been holding up for so long, this was the first time he experienced real trouble.
We shared Timaru hut with a french couple who were also hiking the TA. Interesting note about this couple, they are using a wood powered stove for all of their cooking. This is the first time I've seen someone use wood instead of gas or alcohol. It worked quite well.
Cody propped up his knee for the rest of the evening and massaged the sore area.
Towards the end of the evening he was able to bend the knee again- thank goodness. We plan to continue on with our schedule and let his knee dictate the speed. Tomorrow is going to be a particularly rough day of sidling around a steep river and ascending a ridgeline to Pukituhi Hut.
March 3rd: There and back again...a limping tale
We attempted to walk towards breast hill from Top Timaru hut but barely made it 2 k's before I called it quits. We had a lot of sketchy mountain sidling ahead of us (which I hate/fear) and Cody was limping, almost to the point of peg legging.
His injury hadn't healed and both of us knew that this was far more serious than what we had thought. We turned back to the hut and spent the majority of the day resting up for the 24 km hike out. There was a lot of downhill ahead of us, but it was far easier and quicker to go back the way we had come rather than push onward for 3 more days.
March 4th: Hiking out
The hike out was brutal for Cody, his injured knee was giving him a lot of trouble when we descended 1200 meters to the valley floor. He was peg legging the whole way down, and his right leg was becoming fatigued from doing all the work. It was painful, but we got out...slowly. We passed a few TA hikers that we knew along the way, and had to explain that this injury was going to put us off the trail for good. It was disheartening to see our friends pass us on the trail; especially knowing that there was a good chance we weren't going to be seeing each other again.
Finally we got to the dirt road at the trailhead and began the long walk back to the highway. We headed for the only accomidation at the end if the road. We could have camped by the trailhead, but the whole area had recently been poisoned and we worried about the water quality.
It took us a few tries but eventually we got a hitch the last 5k down the road to the backpackers. The people that had passed us on the road ended up in the same place. They were a little sheepish, I'm sure they never expected to see us again.
After staying up far too late chatting with some aussie's we finally headed to the tent and fell asleep with all our clothes on. It was a very cold night.
March 5th: Hitch to Wanaka
We packed up our stuff and got ready to hitch to Wanaka. Supposedly Cody's kindle was going to be delivered there.
Wanaka was insanely busy, thank goodness we had booked a room over a week in advance. It has become increasingly hard to find accomidation here in the South Island. Everyone says the tourist season is winding down, but I've found the opposite to be true.
After a little bit of drama, Cody finally got his kindle back. A true miracle!
Another stroke of luck happened while we were in Wanaka. We ran into some friends of mine from California that just so happened to be in Wanaka at the same time, small world!
They were stopping by in New Zealand after sailing the world for a whole year.
Paul and the gang
The kids trying on our backpacks, ours are considered pretty light, but on them they looked quite large a heavy.
As soon as we got the kindle and said our goodbyes to the CA gang Cody and I headed out of dodge to Twizel, a gateway to Mt. Cook. As long as we couldn't hike we'd see all the sites that the South Island had to offer. As New Zealands tallest peak, Mt. Cook is sure to be a worthwhile pursuit.
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