Having decided we had had enough of chilling out, we made the drive north up to Nelson to go to our friends' wedding. The arrangement was to camp at the Mapua Leisure Park, which is "clothes optional'' during the months of February and March. Ben found this a little alarming, as I chose not to warn him in advance. He soon warmed into things and was a regular down at the beach (with his togs on, I might add). After the wedding, we went to Totaranui for a week of chilling out with bride and groom's family and friends. Our fishing [View Full Entry]

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Well its been almost two weeks now since our last tramp, and we are still kicking about in Ross. We are staying at Ben's sister's house, earning our keep by painting the roof, chopping firewood, clearing scrub, foraging for blackberries and looking after our neice and nephew. We've done a couple of walks as well. It is official. Ben and I are appalling at fishing. We spent an entire afternoon on Lake Mahinapua fishing for evil perch and didn't get a single bite. This is despite John assuring us that the last time he came out with the kids they hauled [View Full Entry]

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My knees completely gave out on the NW circuit. I spent the last 2 days trying to walk without bending my knees. So we ditched the packs and hired some kayaks instead. Paterson Inlet is a great place for kayaking and just a half hour walk from Oban. The West side of Stewart Island is apparently tilting up leaving the East side sinking under the ocean. This means a lot of the valleys on this side are being drowned, a recipe for great kayaking. There are heaps of bays and islands, and lots of rivers to look around. We spent a [View Full Entry]

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After a brief trip to Wellington and Auckland for weddings and visas, we headed down to Stewart Island with our friends Linda and Gerad to do the North West Circuit. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to do the Southern Circuit as well. So, once again, we donned huge packs and set to it. (Maybe we are getting a bit lighter, but it seemed easier this time). Stewart Island is amazing. The North West Circuit skirts the coast in a big loop from Oban (the main township there). The trip is supposed to take around 10 days. The [View Full Entry]

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This was a nice little 3 day trip up the Young River, over Gillespie pass into the Siberia Valley, then down the Wilkin. On arriving in Makarora, DOC told us the river was 'in flood' and we would need to take a jet boat. Strangely enough, the jet boat guy reckoned we would need to take his jet boat as well. Not convinced, we thought we would go down and have a look for ourselves. The crossing was a waist deep affair, but not too swift and we were pleased that we gave it a go (even if that meant wet [View Full Entry]

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This was a shameless hut bagging trip really, - plus a chance to see the Cascade saddle route from below. Yep, glad we didn't do that sucker in the wind and rain. Climbing up to Liverpool Hut gave us a sense of what it would be like. My arms were just as sore as my legs from scrambling. Had a look around French Ridge Hut too. Saw a couple of glaciers peeling off and thundering to the valley below. Cool. [View Full Entry]

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Well, it seems like while the rest of the country has been having average weather, we seem to have stumbled upon the one place in New Zealand where the sun has been shining. We don't know quite what to do with ourselves. Ben had the great idea that we would turn two or three decent trips into a mega trip of about 14 days. The plan was to start on the Caples, throw in the Routeburn, dash up the Dart river, hop over cascade saddle into the Matukituki, get to the Wilkin via some contrived route through the Albert burn and [View Full Entry]

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