So I spent the last couple of days in Exmouth scuba diving on the Nigaloo Reef and swimming with the Largest fish in the Ocean.... both amazing experiences.... The Nigaloo Reef is incredible... the coral has an array of vibrant colours... pinks, purples, blues and reds... we had some fun swim throughs with an abudant amount of tropical fish. The Largest fish in the Ocean is the Whale shark, yes its a shark not a whale and its over 15m long.... and we were as close as 3m to it... it feeds on plankton so no worries on any of us being dinner...
Garret and I then sold the car in Exmouth and hitched a ride back to Perth with a great local guy. Garret and I then spent three days together in Perth. 1st day we spent downtown exploring and shopping... as you do in the city... Jess I got some great buys....
The next day we walked around Kings Park... a beautiful green park that over looks Perth and the Harbour... Our last day we spent together on Rottnest Island... we rented a tandum bike, had a few good laughs trying to ride it... went to Salmon Bay for some snorkelling and lunch... the water was crystal clear and there were a huge school of fish that would follow us around...
After WA I did a bit of a milk run on the airplane to get to Indo but I finally arrived in Bali... I got here late at night, no place to sleep but a surf guide in hand and the name of the beach I was headed to...
with hundreds of taxi drivers hounding me at the airport, I finally picked one to take me to Legion beach... its about 10 mins north from Kuta Beach. I found a swank hotel and settled in easily....
woke up early stoked to hit the surf, pulled out my board and well found a "toonie" sized ding in the bottom, of my board from the airplane ride over... disheartend I plotted down the beach until I finally found some sun cure to fix my board....
first wave i caugth felt smooth... the waves are small but clean and fun!!
I heard froma few Aussies that Nusa Lembongon might have a few waves to offer, so off I went... Nusa Lembongon is an Island close to Bali...about an hours boat ride away... There I found a beautiful hotel, one with a view of the ocean and the mountains in bali as a backdrop... absolutly stunning... the only thing that would make the view better is if I had someone to share it with.... I spent a few days exploring the Island.... doing some snorkelling and riding around on a scooter... it was sooo cool.... made me think of how much I miss my bike... and how much I think I'd like to ride a dirt bike... One day I took a local boat out to a near by surf break witha couple of guys I met, the first half hour was awesome but then it got a little hairy for me... and with rebar poles sticking out from the seaweed farm below the break I got a little scared... so I hung out on the boat, well the boys surfed... even they were a little intimadated... one guy from another boat put a hole right through his board second wave out... ouch...
I am back at Legion now... beach break and no rebar... so better... had a great 4 hour surf session this morning.... and now absolutely wipped out so I think I'll go to bed early....
have a great day, miss you all see you soon Jamie
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Western Australia
So Garret and I left Arapiles after two weeks of rock climbing... we set off to Adelaide and caught up with an old friend Mike Christoff. He encouraged us to see the Barossa Valley... really pretty, we did a wine tour day... I got drunk then hung over in the same day, not really fun... we did manage to enjoy wine and cheese with Mike's Grandma who lives next door to Mike. She is really cool lady.
After our two day rest in Adelaide we drove in a straight line for 3 days to get across the desert. We kept ourselves entertained with road games, reading "In a Sunburnt Country" outloud to eachother and played "so you think you can sing" I lost...
Garret also tried to gain the world record for who can drive the longest with his knees. We saw not much... some shrubs, red dirt, straight road, oh and towns with a population of 6... there was a gas station in the town and thats it... I was amazed when I asked the people at the gas staion if they live here, there answer would be a simple "yes" with a look of "of course I live here" strange to me, but we were thankful, we wouldn't have made it across the desert without their help....
so after three days of driving and not seeing much we decided to pull over into a town to have some lunch, we weren't quite in Perth but we were close and we wanted to have some lunch... so we pulled over and right in the middle of town the car went "splat"! and well all our radiator fluid was everywhere.... hmmm not so good.... but to our amazment we were 1 block from a Toyota dealership... diagnosis "our waterpump blew".... and fortunately they were able to fix it the next day... unbelievable actually...
We arrived in Perth, welcomed by two friends that I made back in Byron Bay.... we went for our first surf on the West coast.... witnessed our first wave rage by two locals, and then Garret nearly got his board cut in half after a near miss by another surfer.... Needless to say our first impression of Western Aussie surf wasn't pleasant... we were happy to be in the water though...
We then headed up the west coast, we stopped for a quick break at a beautiful bay and ended up being there for 4 hours..... Garret jumped in the water and through sheer determination he picked up 2 crayfish with his bare hands from the rocks.... they were quite tasty!!
The next morning we were determined to find surf. About an hour up the road we pulled off abruptly to a surf break, stood there for a moment, no one around... we wondered if we should go in or not.... then out of no where a group of locals that were packed in a truck and hanging out of every window called out to us "Oi you want to jump in and go for a wave" without hesitation we jumped in the truck and found ourselves on a 5km (4WD) adventure down to a secluded beach.... a true local "oasis"... While Garret was hanging off the outside of the truck, I discovered they were a local Christian surfing group... they were all really cool so we ended up joining them for lunch... Their friendly invites, warm welcomes and local knowledge changed our views of Western australia surf.
We continued up the coast to Kalbarri... it has a few different surf breaks... but when we got there no one was out surfing and in the guidebook it says "if no ones out surfing then there is something seriously wrong, Do not go in" so we took the guide books advice and went fishing instead.
After Kalbarri we headed up to an area north of Canarvon to Point quobba.. we saw some cool blow holes and really felt the power of the ocean swell.... there was a sign "King Waves Kill" just as a reminder of how powerful the ocean can be...
We drove on to Red bluff, a true surfer's paradise, it was a tent city in the middle of the desert... with incredible surfing and world class fishing...
we were hoping to get a couple of surf's in before the swell picked up but when we woke up the next morning the surf was already going off. The wave was very serious, Garret and I watched from shore... Later that day I really wanted to give it a go but with the shallow, razor sharp reef my more practical side set in and I decided against it. So we went fishing again... no luck with our rod but our neighbour was happy to share a massive fillet of Baldchin Groper... it was a beautiful tasting fish.
While with 2 strikes out for the surf we were desparate to find waves. We decided to split to Exmouth, our final hope, we arrived later in the day, got up super early, rushed to the surf break only to find onshore winds and long faces from the locals.... So we went fishing and tried the surfing the next day... finally our luck had turned and for the last week we have had a ton of fun surfing on a great right hander break with mellow waves...Oh and to keep you company in the surf the turtles pop their head out of the water every now and then..
We have also been to the Cape Range National Park, there you can snorkel the Nigaloo Reef right from shore, apparently the nigaloo Reef is the longest fringing reef in the world. The fish are cool, we saw turtles, reef sharks, box fish, huge gropers and a array of hard and soft corals..
Yesterday we went out for a snorkel tour and swam with a Manta Ray for over 2kms... it was exhausting and exhillarating at the same time. We also saw 7 spotted eagle rays, more turtles, cool fish and from the boat we saw a pod of 500 dolphins all jumping and spinning in the air... later we saw a leopard shark and a flying fish... I thought flying fish was something Dr. Suess invented but apparently they exist.
Each day I spend with the Ocean I love it more and more, however I am starting to think of home and miss all my family and friends...
so I am not sure how much longer I have but i should be home by June 20th...
can't wait to see everyone, miss you all, xoxo Jamie
After our two day rest in Adelaide we drove in a straight line for 3 days to get across the desert. We kept ourselves entertained with road games, reading "In a Sunburnt Country" outloud to eachother and played "so you think you can sing" I lost...
Garret also tried to gain the world record for who can drive the longest with his knees. We saw not much... some shrubs, red dirt, straight road, oh and towns with a population of 6... there was a gas station in the town and thats it... I was amazed when I asked the people at the gas staion if they live here, there answer would be a simple "yes" with a look of "of course I live here" strange to me, but we were thankful, we wouldn't have made it across the desert without their help....
so after three days of driving and not seeing much we decided to pull over into a town to have some lunch, we weren't quite in Perth but we were close and we wanted to have some lunch... so we pulled over and right in the middle of town the car went "splat"! and well all our radiator fluid was everywhere.... hmmm not so good.... but to our amazment we were 1 block from a Toyota dealership... diagnosis "our waterpump blew".... and fortunately they were able to fix it the next day... unbelievable actually...
We arrived in Perth, welcomed by two friends that I made back in Byron Bay.... we went for our first surf on the West coast.... witnessed our first wave rage by two locals, and then Garret nearly got his board cut in half after a near miss by another surfer.... Needless to say our first impression of Western Aussie surf wasn't pleasant... we were happy to be in the water though...
We then headed up the west coast, we stopped for a quick break at a beautiful bay and ended up being there for 4 hours..... Garret jumped in the water and through sheer determination he picked up 2 crayfish with his bare hands from the rocks.... they were quite tasty!!
The next morning we were determined to find surf. About an hour up the road we pulled off abruptly to a surf break, stood there for a moment, no one around... we wondered if we should go in or not.... then out of no where a group of locals that were packed in a truck and hanging out of every window called out to us "Oi you want to jump in and go for a wave" without hesitation we jumped in the truck and found ourselves on a 5km (4WD) adventure down to a secluded beach.... a true local "oasis"... While Garret was hanging off the outside of the truck, I discovered they were a local Christian surfing group... they were all really cool so we ended up joining them for lunch... Their friendly invites, warm welcomes and local knowledge changed our views of Western australia surf.
We continued up the coast to Kalbarri... it has a few different surf breaks... but when we got there no one was out surfing and in the guidebook it says "if no ones out surfing then there is something seriously wrong, Do not go in" so we took the guide books advice and went fishing instead.
After Kalbarri we headed up to an area north of Canarvon to Point quobba.. we saw some cool blow holes and really felt the power of the ocean swell.... there was a sign "King Waves Kill" just as a reminder of how powerful the ocean can be...
We drove on to Red bluff, a true surfer's paradise, it was a tent city in the middle of the desert... with incredible surfing and world class fishing...
we were hoping to get a couple of surf's in before the swell picked up but when we woke up the next morning the surf was already going off. The wave was very serious, Garret and I watched from shore... Later that day I really wanted to give it a go but with the shallow, razor sharp reef my more practical side set in and I decided against it. So we went fishing again... no luck with our rod but our neighbour was happy to share a massive fillet of Baldchin Groper... it was a beautiful tasting fish.
While with 2 strikes out for the surf we were desparate to find waves. We decided to split to Exmouth, our final hope, we arrived later in the day, got up super early, rushed to the surf break only to find onshore winds and long faces from the locals.... So we went fishing and tried the surfing the next day... finally our luck had turned and for the last week we have had a ton of fun surfing on a great right hander break with mellow waves...Oh and to keep you company in the surf the turtles pop their head out of the water every now and then..
We have also been to the Cape Range National Park, there you can snorkel the Nigaloo Reef right from shore, apparently the nigaloo Reef is the longest fringing reef in the world. The fish are cool, we saw turtles, reef sharks, box fish, huge gropers and a array of hard and soft corals..
Yesterday we went out for a snorkel tour and swam with a Manta Ray for over 2kms... it was exhausting and exhillarating at the same time. We also saw 7 spotted eagle rays, more turtles, cool fish and from the boat we saw a pod of 500 dolphins all jumping and spinning in the air... later we saw a leopard shark and a flying fish... I thought flying fish was something Dr. Suess invented but apparently they exist.
Each day I spend with the Ocean I love it more and more, however I am starting to think of home and miss all my family and friends...
so I am not sure how much longer I have but i should be home by June 20th...
can't wait to see everyone, miss you all, xoxo Jamie
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Still in australia
Hey everyone... so we are still in aus... wow there is so much to do and it is taking a long time to move through the country... not that I am complaining... we are enjoying ourseleves and just taking our time...
After Creasant head we continued to move on to georgias on the Northern Beachs, hung out with her for a bit, Georgia and I got out surfing together a few more times, while Garret let his ribs heal... he hurt them by surfing too much...
We then decided to continue on down the south coast of NSW and make stops along the way checking out the wildlife and the surf... Alongt he south coast I didn't get into the water, either the waves were too big, the winds were too strong and blowing the wrong way or well there was a great white shark colony in the next bay over....
We had breakfast with the kangaroos one day, dinner with the possums and then breakfast with the birds... (when I get the pics dowloaded this part will make sense)
We then continued on down to the State of Victoria and made our way to Wilson's Promatory, it is the southern most part of Australia... on arrival we were greeted with the most incredible red sunset... the next day had a fun day of surfing on white sandy beaches where the wombats liked to roam... Wombats are the cutest little creatures.... garret got real close and took some good photos.... The natational park in Wilson's promatory was greatly affected by the burning wild fires a couple of months ago... devasting, but the land still had a natural beauty to it...
The next day we headed through Melbourne, spent the night hanging out in the city.. and the next day enjoyed the museum... We then drove down to Bell's Beach and surfed the beach where they have the Rip Curl Pro each year.... aww so much fun... the waves were perfect size for me to enjoy... the water was a chilly 17 degrees though...
And for my birthday we drove ther Great Ocean Road... The winds were insane... over 100 km/hr onshore winds... so the surf was massive, messy and dangerous... we didn't go in the water that day....
We spent the night in a cute town called Port fairy and then drove up to Arapilies... and area Garret has been wanting to come since the begining of the trip... It is a huge rock climbing mecca.... with quality climbs and reasonable grades... this place is stunning... we randomly met up with a good group of friends we met in New Zealand and an old friend we had met in Squamish years ago... so right away we had the warmest welcome... we have had some good days of climbing in when the sun is out... the weather, well its cold at night, very cold... and well can be rainy some days... so together we are going to move on and drive to the West coast... another adventure in itself... wish us luck on the car making it across the dessert... 2 1/2 days of driving...
hope you all are having a great spring, thinking and wishing the best to everyone... Jamie
After Creasant head we continued to move on to georgias on the Northern Beachs, hung out with her for a bit, Georgia and I got out surfing together a few more times, while Garret let his ribs heal... he hurt them by surfing too much...
We then decided to continue on down the south coast of NSW and make stops along the way checking out the wildlife and the surf... Alongt he south coast I didn't get into the water, either the waves were too big, the winds were too strong and blowing the wrong way or well there was a great white shark colony in the next bay over....
We had breakfast with the kangaroos one day, dinner with the possums and then breakfast with the birds... (when I get the pics dowloaded this part will make sense)
We then continued on down to the State of Victoria and made our way to Wilson's Promatory, it is the southern most part of Australia... on arrival we were greeted with the most incredible red sunset... the next day had a fun day of surfing on white sandy beaches where the wombats liked to roam... Wombats are the cutest little creatures.... garret got real close and took some good photos.... The natational park in Wilson's promatory was greatly affected by the burning wild fires a couple of months ago... devasting, but the land still had a natural beauty to it...
The next day we headed through Melbourne, spent the night hanging out in the city.. and the next day enjoyed the museum... We then drove down to Bell's Beach and surfed the beach where they have the Rip Curl Pro each year.... aww so much fun... the waves were perfect size for me to enjoy... the water was a chilly 17 degrees though...
And for my birthday we drove ther Great Ocean Road... The winds were insane... over 100 km/hr onshore winds... so the surf was massive, messy and dangerous... we didn't go in the water that day....
We spent the night in a cute town called Port fairy and then drove up to Arapilies... and area Garret has been wanting to come since the begining of the trip... It is a huge rock climbing mecca.... with quality climbs and reasonable grades... this place is stunning... we randomly met up with a good group of friends we met in New Zealand and an old friend we had met in Squamish years ago... so right away we had the warmest welcome... we have had some good days of climbing in when the sun is out... the weather, well its cold at night, very cold... and well can be rainy some days... so together we are going to move on and drive to the West coast... another adventure in itself... wish us luck on the car making it across the dessert... 2 1/2 days of driving...
hope you all are having a great spring, thinking and wishing the best to everyone... Jamie
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Torongo Zoo and Surf Trip Australia
Hey guys... I updated the photos again... some are from the Torongo Zoo in Sydney... The Gorillas were breath taking....
The others are mostly us messing around, hanging out on our surf trip... some scenery and surf shots...
Hope you enjoy.... Have a beautiful day! Jamie
The others are mostly us messing around, hanging out on our surf trip... some scenery and surf shots...
Hope you enjoy.... Have a beautiful day! Jamie
Monday, April 13, 2009
Part 2 New Zealand
So I know its been awhile but here it goes... I'll do my best to catch up on all that I missed writing about.
After the West coast of New Zealand we headed to inland to Wanaka. We got a day of rock climbing in where Garret and I met a young couple Kyle and Karen from the States. Garret and Kyle decided to team up and attempt Mnt Aspiring from the Valley, over a 3000ft climb. In New Zealand one of the biggest challenges in accomplishing climbs is the weather... so people usually use a chopper to get them to the base hut and climb from there.... but these guys decided they had a three day weather window so they wanted to do it the proper way and climb it from the valley... Apparently they had an amazing time, got really close to summiting but high winds turned them around. While Garret was off climbing I went hiking with my friend Dan and a friend of his... we stayed at a couple of huts in the area they were climbing and we got beautiful views of Mnt. Aspiring.
Soon after our Mnt. Aspiring trip the weather turned and it started to rain. So we decided to go on a little road trip south... we headed towards the Caitlands. The Caitlands are in the southern part of the South Island and the beaches are incredible.. We travelled south to Currio Bay where we saw huge sea Lions, Hecter dolphins swimming and a 70 Million year old petrified forest... a volcano came through this area 70 million years ago, took out a forest and basically fossilized it... It was an absolutely amazing place to walk around. Oh we also found Penguins and we able to get real close, check out the pictures.
We then carried on to Dunedin, up along the eastern part of the south coast on the south Island. Dunedin was cool, went to the Royal Albatrous Center were we saw hug albatrous flying around... With a wing span of 3 meters it was really impressive seeing these birds fly.
Oh we went to the Speights Brewery, saw how they make beer through gravity... and we visited the Cadbury factory.... hmmm chocolate... we gorged ourselves with chocolate... as exciting as that sounds we both just ended up crashing from our sugar high and didn't feel too good afterwards.
We then drove across to the other side of the south Island to a Farm. We thought seeing how New Zealand is full of sheep and farm land, in order to experience New Zealand fully we needed to visit a farm and sheer a sheep. So thats what we did, not only did we get to sheer a sheep but we got to feed a baby lamb from a bottle... it was too cute.... We both loved the farm visit.
We then drove a bit north to Milford Sound, had a beautiful few days. We got a day hike in to Lake Mariom then we randomly met up with our friends Kyle and Karen again... So Kyle and Garret went up mountain and rock climbing for a couple of days while Karen and I did some kyacking and day hiking.... Exceptionally beautiful area...
By now it was about time to head back to Queenstown and Wanaka in hopes to sell the car. So together the four of us headed to Queenstown... While we wanting patiently for the phone calls to come in from people who wanted to buy our lovely van, Garret and Kyle did a traverse from Double Cone to Single Cone in the Remarkables... I tried to follow them but it was a little to hard for me to do without a rope, so I turned around and went up the otherside, up Single Cone to meet them... I was quite impressed with my self for getting only 20 meters below the summit of single cone on my own... By this time Garret was at the top of Single cone so he tried to come down to guide me up the rest of the way but with a recent snowfall and the slick rock it made the rest of the climb very challenging so we decided to just continue down the climb together.
We didn't have too much luck selling the car in queenstown so we went to Wanaka and had better luck there. We sold our van to a local couple, moved out of the van and scored a rental car for three days. We paid $30 for 3 days which was perfect timing for us... We did the company a favour by bringing the vehicle back to Christchurch airport so they gave us a smokin' deal...
Along the way we continued our journey... stopped in Lake Tekapo for a midnight observatory tour... and we also went into Mnt Cook area to the Sir Edmund Hilary Museum... Sir Edmund Hilary was one of the first men up Mnt. Everest and there is a huge exhibit on him, so I learned alot that day. While we were up in the Mnt. Cook area we found a bit of rock climbing to do. We found a route that was well within my climbing ability, it was bolted, so well protected, it was 5 pitches, so about 100meters high and best of all it was rated as a 3 star climb. Garret wasn't going to let me get away without doing some leading on this route... so with double elvis legs and alot of encouragement from Garret I lead 3 0f the 5 pitches. I was very proud of myself that day...
Garret and I then flew back over to Sydney to meet up with my friend Georgia. She was very kind to house us while we searched for a car and a surf board for Garret. We were lucky to find a good deal on both and then we headed north along the East Coast of Australia for what has turned out to be a super cool surfing trip. We were able to hit areas I couldn't access earlier because I didn't have a car.
Our first night we stopped in Anna Bay, surfed One Mile and Stockten Beach... had a beautiful sunset surf at Stockten Beach... (Pictures to come) We then hit Seal Rocks.. amazing spot... we pulled up to a beauitful point break that was going off... a bit too big for me and Garret but we did our best out there.... There was a huge Easterly Swell and off shore winds so this point was working, apparently it only works 4 times a year. We then made it to Creasant Head... Ahhh Creasant Head... another beautiful point break... with the possiblity of a 200 meter long board ride on a right hand break... Really I can't explain how much fun we have had up here... I have had sooo many amazing rides, sometimes I feel like a rock star. We have now spent a week here and we can't seem to leave. Georgia came up to visit us for the Easter weekend, we have been surfing every day for 4 hours a day and love every minute we are in the water... The surf is getting really busy due to school holidays so we'll probably be leaving tomorrow but not without an "early" surf in the morning...
Who knows from there... I am not sure if anything can beat Creasant head's surf....
Hope you had a beautiful Easter and lots of Chocolate.... Big Hugs Jamie
After the West coast of New Zealand we headed to inland to Wanaka. We got a day of rock climbing in where Garret and I met a young couple Kyle and Karen from the States. Garret and Kyle decided to team up and attempt Mnt Aspiring from the Valley, over a 3000ft climb. In New Zealand one of the biggest challenges in accomplishing climbs is the weather... so people usually use a chopper to get them to the base hut and climb from there.... but these guys decided they had a three day weather window so they wanted to do it the proper way and climb it from the valley... Apparently they had an amazing time, got really close to summiting but high winds turned them around. While Garret was off climbing I went hiking with my friend Dan and a friend of his... we stayed at a couple of huts in the area they were climbing and we got beautiful views of Mnt. Aspiring.
Soon after our Mnt. Aspiring trip the weather turned and it started to rain. So we decided to go on a little road trip south... we headed towards the Caitlands. The Caitlands are in the southern part of the South Island and the beaches are incredible.. We travelled south to Currio Bay where we saw huge sea Lions, Hecter dolphins swimming and a 70 Million year old petrified forest... a volcano came through this area 70 million years ago, took out a forest and basically fossilized it... It was an absolutely amazing place to walk around. Oh we also found Penguins and we able to get real close, check out the pictures.
We then carried on to Dunedin, up along the eastern part of the south coast on the south Island. Dunedin was cool, went to the Royal Albatrous Center were we saw hug albatrous flying around... With a wing span of 3 meters it was really impressive seeing these birds fly.
Oh we went to the Speights Brewery, saw how they make beer through gravity... and we visited the Cadbury factory.... hmmm chocolate... we gorged ourselves with chocolate... as exciting as that sounds we both just ended up crashing from our sugar high and didn't feel too good afterwards.
We then drove across to the other side of the south Island to a Farm. We thought seeing how New Zealand is full of sheep and farm land, in order to experience New Zealand fully we needed to visit a farm and sheer a sheep. So thats what we did, not only did we get to sheer a sheep but we got to feed a baby lamb from a bottle... it was too cute.... We both loved the farm visit.
We then drove a bit north to Milford Sound, had a beautiful few days. We got a day hike in to Lake Mariom then we randomly met up with our friends Kyle and Karen again... So Kyle and Garret went up mountain and rock climbing for a couple of days while Karen and I did some kyacking and day hiking.... Exceptionally beautiful area...
By now it was about time to head back to Queenstown and Wanaka in hopes to sell the car. So together the four of us headed to Queenstown... While we wanting patiently for the phone calls to come in from people who wanted to buy our lovely van, Garret and Kyle did a traverse from Double Cone to Single Cone in the Remarkables... I tried to follow them but it was a little to hard for me to do without a rope, so I turned around and went up the otherside, up Single Cone to meet them... I was quite impressed with my self for getting only 20 meters below the summit of single cone on my own... By this time Garret was at the top of Single cone so he tried to come down to guide me up the rest of the way but with a recent snowfall and the slick rock it made the rest of the climb very challenging so we decided to just continue down the climb together.
We didn't have too much luck selling the car in queenstown so we went to Wanaka and had better luck there. We sold our van to a local couple, moved out of the van and scored a rental car for three days. We paid $30 for 3 days which was perfect timing for us... We did the company a favour by bringing the vehicle back to Christchurch airport so they gave us a smokin' deal...
Along the way we continued our journey... stopped in Lake Tekapo for a midnight observatory tour... and we also went into Mnt Cook area to the Sir Edmund Hilary Museum... Sir Edmund Hilary was one of the first men up Mnt. Everest and there is a huge exhibit on him, so I learned alot that day. While we were up in the Mnt. Cook area we found a bit of rock climbing to do. We found a route that was well within my climbing ability, it was bolted, so well protected, it was 5 pitches, so about 100meters high and best of all it was rated as a 3 star climb. Garret wasn't going to let me get away without doing some leading on this route... so with double elvis legs and alot of encouragement from Garret I lead 3 0f the 5 pitches. I was very proud of myself that day...
Garret and I then flew back over to Sydney to meet up with my friend Georgia. She was very kind to house us while we searched for a car and a surf board for Garret. We were lucky to find a good deal on both and then we headed north along the East Coast of Australia for what has turned out to be a super cool surfing trip. We were able to hit areas I couldn't access earlier because I didn't have a car.
Our first night we stopped in Anna Bay, surfed One Mile and Stockten Beach... had a beautiful sunset surf at Stockten Beach... (Pictures to come) We then hit Seal Rocks.. amazing spot... we pulled up to a beauitful point break that was going off... a bit too big for me and Garret but we did our best out there.... There was a huge Easterly Swell and off shore winds so this point was working, apparently it only works 4 times a year. We then made it to Creasant Head... Ahhh Creasant Head... another beautiful point break... with the possiblity of a 200 meter long board ride on a right hand break... Really I can't explain how much fun we have had up here... I have had sooo many amazing rides, sometimes I feel like a rock star. We have now spent a week here and we can't seem to leave. Georgia came up to visit us for the Easter weekend, we have been surfing every day for 4 hours a day and love every minute we are in the water... The surf is getting really busy due to school holidays so we'll probably be leaving tomorrow but not without an "early" surf in the morning...
Who knows from there... I am not sure if anything can beat Creasant head's surf....
Hope you had a beautiful Easter and lots of Chocolate.... Big Hugs Jamie
Saturday, February 28, 2009
South Island New Zealand
Ahhh finally I get a breather to update my blog.... I picked Garret up from the airport in Christchurch about 2.5 weeks ago and I don't think we have stopped for a moment since.... we have been having so much fun together it has made my trip even more unbelievable...
After two days of chilling out in Christchurch together, we started our journey.... our first stop was Kaikoura.... Kaikoura is about a three hour drive north of Christchurch along the east coast of the south Island. There we had an unreal experience... we got to swim with a pod of over 200 wild dolphins... My parents gave me a NZ tour as a Christmas gift and I chose to swim with dolphins... Thanks Mom and Dad!! Garret and I were very fortunate to get in on a cancellation list.. (some people booked their trip over three months ago). We started with a half hour boat trip to find the dolphin pod. The skipper pulled right up and we all jumped in. The dolphins were very curious they came right up to you and the more entertaining to the dolphins you were the more the dolphins stuck around to check you out. You weren't allowed to touch the dolphins because they are wild but you could definitely interact with them. You had to swim in circles, make dolphin noises, flip your flippers around and the dolphins would play with you, they came as close as a foot away. (Jess, Good thing we used to practice being dolphins in the pool, it really paid off) The first time the dolphin pod stayed with us for over 30 mins... Garret being the ham he is was able to keep one dolphins attention for over a minute.
In Kaikoura we also visited a seal colony. The seals came right up to the land and you got to get real close to them... You weren't really supposed to get closer than 10 meters but we were very curious and went a little closer than that... take a look at the pics are we really petting the seals?
After our beautiful experience in Kaikoura we continued north to Picton and just east of Picton we did a two day hike on the Queen Charolette track, another incredibly beautiful experience!! We started in Endevour Inlet, camped at Resolution Bay then the next day hiked over to Ship Cove. Ship cove is a historic site, apparently were Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. We then hiked back out to Endevour Inlet and up a massive hill back to the car, very long day but worth it.
We then headed to Nelson, cute town... got some great Thai Food for lunch and carried on up to the Able Tasman track. We did a three day sea kayaking/camping trip along the coastal waters of the Able Tasman. Exceptionally beautiful area and we lucked out with the weather. Beautiful sunshine for three days. The pictures don't do the area justice. We saw a ton of seals along the way including 6 week old seal pups... very cute. One seal was flip flopping a fish from his nose to his tail and we got so close I thought I was going to get a fish in the face... There were also a lot of beautiful sea birds totally unique looking ones. Garret was on a penguin hunt but unfortunately the only penguin we saw was one that had been half eaten and floating. (As of today, his quest for penguins still continues)
From the Able Tasman we continued our adventures up to Paynes Ford in the Golden bay area to do some rock climbing. Garret brought all the gear and luckily I had my basic climbing gear so together we were able to get out on the rock. Paynes Ford was a great place for us to start, shorter sport climbing routes and really fun. I found it challenging because the grades here are really hard compared to at home... but we managed to get on climbs that challenged both us. It rained one of the days so we made it our rest day and headed up to the top of Golden bay to an area that is supposed to be one of the most spiritual places in New Zealand (at least that is what a hippie park ranger told me a few weeks ago). The place was called Wharariki beach. On the way home we stopped at the Mussel Inn for a pint, a local microbrewery oasis with huge mussels and great live music... so we stayed for a few more than one pint and had a great night!!
From Paynes Ford we carried on Southwest to the west Coast and made our way to an incredible rock climbing area along the West Coast named Charleston. We were blessed with a two day window of beautiful sunshine and climbed 18-35 meter sea cliffs. The seals were about 10 feet away from the belay station and the waves crashed on shore intensifying the surrounding energy. On one climb, which was at my limit for the day, Garret yelled out from the top, "hey Jame look dolphins", I took my eyes and attention off the rock for a few moments to enjoy the site of dolphins breaching in the ocean. Ok so I enjoyed the view only slightly at that moment, mostly I was freaking out at that moment but when I finally got to the top of the climb they were still there so I got to thoroughly enjoy the experience more while standing on solid ground.
From Charleston we headed south to Greymouth... someone described Greymouth exactly like the name sounds and well that is exactly what we found, a grey dreary town with not much going on... so we continued on into Aurthur's Pass. There it was our intention to climb the highest mountain in Aurthur's Pass, Mount Rolleston (2285meters). Well the weather wasn't cooperating too well so we ended up with a late 10 am start and Garret made it to the Low peak of 2215 metes and I made it to the saddle just below that. The rock was very loose, it felt like glass breaking underneath you with each step, very scary!! We made it down and headed back to the West Coast while enjoying an incredibly illuminating red sunset on the drive back.
the next day we drove along the Westcoast with intentions to stop at Franz Josef and Fox glacier and do some exploring and sightseeing but as it does on the West coast of New Zealand it was pouring rain, I mean torrential continual downpour. So instead we found these spa glacial hot pools and did the tourist thing for an evening to warm up.
Today we drove from the Westcoast inland to Wanaka, where we hope the weather cooperates with us so we can enjoy more rock and mountain climbing.
Hope you all have a beautiful day...
After two days of chilling out in Christchurch together, we started our journey.... our first stop was Kaikoura.... Kaikoura is about a three hour drive north of Christchurch along the east coast of the south Island. There we had an unreal experience... we got to swim with a pod of over 200 wild dolphins... My parents gave me a NZ tour as a Christmas gift and I chose to swim with dolphins... Thanks Mom and Dad!! Garret and I were very fortunate to get in on a cancellation list.. (some people booked their trip over three months ago). We started with a half hour boat trip to find the dolphin pod. The skipper pulled right up and we all jumped in. The dolphins were very curious they came right up to you and the more entertaining to the dolphins you were the more the dolphins stuck around to check you out. You weren't allowed to touch the dolphins because they are wild but you could definitely interact with them. You had to swim in circles, make dolphin noises, flip your flippers around and the dolphins would play with you, they came as close as a foot away. (Jess, Good thing we used to practice being dolphins in the pool, it really paid off) The first time the dolphin pod stayed with us for over 30 mins... Garret being the ham he is was able to keep one dolphins attention for over a minute.
In Kaikoura we also visited a seal colony. The seals came right up to the land and you got to get real close to them... You weren't really supposed to get closer than 10 meters but we were very curious and went a little closer than that... take a look at the pics are we really petting the seals?
After our beautiful experience in Kaikoura we continued north to Picton and just east of Picton we did a two day hike on the Queen Charolette track, another incredibly beautiful experience!! We started in Endevour Inlet, camped at Resolution Bay then the next day hiked over to Ship Cove. Ship cove is a historic site, apparently were Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. We then hiked back out to Endevour Inlet and up a massive hill back to the car, very long day but worth it.
We then headed to Nelson, cute town... got some great Thai Food for lunch and carried on up to the Able Tasman track. We did a three day sea kayaking/camping trip along the coastal waters of the Able Tasman. Exceptionally beautiful area and we lucked out with the weather. Beautiful sunshine for three days. The pictures don't do the area justice. We saw a ton of seals along the way including 6 week old seal pups... very cute. One seal was flip flopping a fish from his nose to his tail and we got so close I thought I was going to get a fish in the face... There were also a lot of beautiful sea birds totally unique looking ones. Garret was on a penguin hunt but unfortunately the only penguin we saw was one that had been half eaten and floating. (As of today, his quest for penguins still continues)
From the Able Tasman we continued our adventures up to Paynes Ford in the Golden bay area to do some rock climbing. Garret brought all the gear and luckily I had my basic climbing gear so together we were able to get out on the rock. Paynes Ford was a great place for us to start, shorter sport climbing routes and really fun. I found it challenging because the grades here are really hard compared to at home... but we managed to get on climbs that challenged both us. It rained one of the days so we made it our rest day and headed up to the top of Golden bay to an area that is supposed to be one of the most spiritual places in New Zealand (at least that is what a hippie park ranger told me a few weeks ago). The place was called Wharariki beach. On the way home we stopped at the Mussel Inn for a pint, a local microbrewery oasis with huge mussels and great live music... so we stayed for a few more than one pint and had a great night!!
From Paynes Ford we carried on Southwest to the west Coast and made our way to an incredible rock climbing area along the West Coast named Charleston. We were blessed with a two day window of beautiful sunshine and climbed 18-35 meter sea cliffs. The seals were about 10 feet away from the belay station and the waves crashed on shore intensifying the surrounding energy. On one climb, which was at my limit for the day, Garret yelled out from the top, "hey Jame look dolphins", I took my eyes and attention off the rock for a few moments to enjoy the site of dolphins breaching in the ocean. Ok so I enjoyed the view only slightly at that moment, mostly I was freaking out at that moment but when I finally got to the top of the climb they were still there so I got to thoroughly enjoy the experience more while standing on solid ground.
From Charleston we headed south to Greymouth... someone described Greymouth exactly like the name sounds and well that is exactly what we found, a grey dreary town with not much going on... so we continued on into Aurthur's Pass. There it was our intention to climb the highest mountain in Aurthur's Pass, Mount Rolleston (2285meters). Well the weather wasn't cooperating too well so we ended up with a late 10 am start and Garret made it to the Low peak of 2215 metes and I made it to the saddle just below that. The rock was very loose, it felt like glass breaking underneath you with each step, very scary!! We made it down and headed back to the West Coast while enjoying an incredibly illuminating red sunset on the drive back.
the next day we drove along the Westcoast with intentions to stop at Franz Josef and Fox glacier and do some exploring and sightseeing but as it does on the West coast of New Zealand it was pouring rain, I mean torrential continual downpour. So instead we found these spa glacial hot pools and did the tourist thing for an evening to warm up.
Today we drove from the Westcoast inland to Wanaka, where we hope the weather cooperates with us so we can enjoy more rock and mountain climbing.
Hope you all have a beautiful day...
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The day I killed a rabbit and a Fish
So after spending a couple of semi-lonely days in Wanaka hiking and one day rock climbing I was looking for another adventure... so I decided to call my Aussie friends in Queenstown to see what they were up to... sure enough Dan had organized a trip for the three of them to sea kayak into a hut stay the night and come back the next day... Seeing how i enjoyed Dan's last trip I decided to sign up for another one. They accepted my company with open arms.
Well because I was in Wanaka which is over an hour away from Queenstown I needed to wake up in the 4's for our 630 am start in Queenstown. ( I don't like waking up in the 4's for anything but I did it anyway). On my drive over to Queenstown who knew I'd be playing "Frogger" with all the rabbits on the road, they were everywhere I couldn't believe it . Now I know you are not supposed to swerve to avoid adding to the road kill but I couldn't help it, I had never killed anything on the road and didn't want to start. There were two rabbits at once both going in different directions, there was no where for me to swerve... I think at least one of them survived but I know by the bump and the thud I hit one of them. I wasn't too sure what to do, cry... say 10 hail mary's or wish the rabbit a happy trip to heaven... all I do remember doing is apologizing profusely to the poor rabbit on the road...
I got to Queesnstown confused my sin to my friends and instead of sympathy and a hug, I got a "congratulations Jamie those things are pests here, next time don't swerve hit 'em all" So much for the hail mary's
So we drove on to Lake Manuopori, we picked up our kayaks and paddled on beautiful Lake Manuopouri, stopped for lunch, cursed the sand flies that ate us alive, went for a hike/mountain climb (One of Dan's short side walks) saw the most beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area then carried on and paddled to the hut.
We found the hut and we stayed there, the sand flies were insane.. (worse than the bugs in the NWT in the summer) so we drank and ate... because we were in kayaks we could carry alcohol and all the hut goodies imaginable. We had brie cheese, chocolate, wine and beer.
Somewhere around 9pm we set a few challenges up. See Dan brought a fishing rod and was talking about catching a fish... he talked about it so much that none of us including him thought it could happen... and around 9pm the girls were getting cold and needed a fire... so the challenge was the boys were to go fishing and the girls were to make a fire. We didn't think they were going to catch a fish and they didn't think we could start a fire.... The challenge was on....
Little did they know I own a wood stove at home.. and Garret has taught me over the years how to build a fire properly... So Roweena and I had our fire going in no time laughing that we would win the challenge....
Not too long after the boys walked in carrying a 5lb trout from the lake.... none of us could believe it... we took a lot of trophy shots and then had a group decision to release the fish (75% release and 25% eat the fish) I was the 25%.... we all walked down to the lake for the trial release but the fish wasn't going anywhere except on our breakfast plates the next morning....
the only problem was the fish wasn't totally dead... he still had fight in him, so sadly because I was voted the avid animal killer of the day (I can't believe it) and because I have done it before for fish that Garret has caught... I was the one that had to bash the fish on the head with a stick... I was very apologetic and was only ok at my job... Roweena gave it a go as well, but I think she tapped the fish on the head more than anything....
so I killed a rabbit and a fish that day, we ate the fish and not the rabbit... ( I think I need something profound here but I am lost for words....)
The next am we paddled back against the wind so in river boats I would classify it like class 2 rapids upstream and just as cold as home.... but I had a smile on my face the whole time... not really but I tried to....
We finished with an awvo session on the patio in Te anu.... I stayed in Te anu and the rest of the crew carried on back to Queenstown...
Teanu is the gateway to the Milford Sound... Fiordland National Park... a very beautiful part of New Zealand... probably the most beautiful I have seen here, mountains everywhere, looks alot like the Duffey Lake Road but even more stunning ( I know its hard to believe)... and yes my camera is broken so I don't have pics, but I hope to get some from friends...
I spent a couple days doing some day hikes in the Fiordland area... I am now in Queenston hanging out for a couple days.... Queenstown is a very busy place... reminds me of Whistler.... very touristy.... but this is the area where people come to do all the adventure skydives and bungee jumps... I haven't attempted this yet... but you never know, maybe one day....
Last night I met up with an old friend from my very early Whistler days... Micheal Glock, and I got to meet his girlfriend Lisa... we had a few beers and dinner and got to reminisce and catch up...
I am heading back to Christchurch tomorrow to pick up Garret from the airport, we plan to head north from there and down along the West coast of the South Island... so I'll be on to more adventures with him up there, probably get some rock climbing and more hiking in...
So, Have a beautiful day, send me updates on what you are are up to... I love hearing about what people are doing... please keep in touch!! Big Hug Jamie
Well because I was in Wanaka which is over an hour away from Queenstown I needed to wake up in the 4's for our 630 am start in Queenstown. ( I don't like waking up in the 4's for anything but I did it anyway). On my drive over to Queenstown who knew I'd be playing "Frogger" with all the rabbits on the road, they were everywhere I couldn't believe it . Now I know you are not supposed to swerve to avoid adding to the road kill but I couldn't help it, I had never killed anything on the road and didn't want to start. There were two rabbits at once both going in different directions, there was no where for me to swerve... I think at least one of them survived but I know by the bump and the thud I hit one of them. I wasn't too sure what to do, cry... say 10 hail mary's or wish the rabbit a happy trip to heaven... all I do remember doing is apologizing profusely to the poor rabbit on the road...
I got to Queesnstown confused my sin to my friends and instead of sympathy and a hug, I got a "congratulations Jamie those things are pests here, next time don't swerve hit 'em all" So much for the hail mary's
So we drove on to Lake Manuopori, we picked up our kayaks and paddled on beautiful Lake Manuopouri, stopped for lunch, cursed the sand flies that ate us alive, went for a hike/mountain climb (One of Dan's short side walks) saw the most beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area then carried on and paddled to the hut.
We found the hut and we stayed there, the sand flies were insane.. (worse than the bugs in the NWT in the summer) so we drank and ate... because we were in kayaks we could carry alcohol and all the hut goodies imaginable. We had brie cheese, chocolate, wine and beer.
Somewhere around 9pm we set a few challenges up. See Dan brought a fishing rod and was talking about catching a fish... he talked about it so much that none of us including him thought it could happen... and around 9pm the girls were getting cold and needed a fire... so the challenge was the boys were to go fishing and the girls were to make a fire. We didn't think they were going to catch a fish and they didn't think we could start a fire.... The challenge was on....
Little did they know I own a wood stove at home.. and Garret has taught me over the years how to build a fire properly... So Roweena and I had our fire going in no time laughing that we would win the challenge....
Not too long after the boys walked in carrying a 5lb trout from the lake.... none of us could believe it... we took a lot of trophy shots and then had a group decision to release the fish (75% release and 25% eat the fish) I was the 25%.... we all walked down to the lake for the trial release but the fish wasn't going anywhere except on our breakfast plates the next morning....
the only problem was the fish wasn't totally dead... he still had fight in him, so sadly because I was voted the avid animal killer of the day (I can't believe it) and because I have done it before for fish that Garret has caught... I was the one that had to bash the fish on the head with a stick... I was very apologetic and was only ok at my job... Roweena gave it a go as well, but I think she tapped the fish on the head more than anything....
so I killed a rabbit and a fish that day, we ate the fish and not the rabbit... ( I think I need something profound here but I am lost for words....)
The next am we paddled back against the wind so in river boats I would classify it like class 2 rapids upstream and just as cold as home.... but I had a smile on my face the whole time... not really but I tried to....
We finished with an awvo session on the patio in Te anu.... I stayed in Te anu and the rest of the crew carried on back to Queenstown...
Teanu is the gateway to the Milford Sound... Fiordland National Park... a very beautiful part of New Zealand... probably the most beautiful I have seen here, mountains everywhere, looks alot like the Duffey Lake Road but even more stunning ( I know its hard to believe)... and yes my camera is broken so I don't have pics, but I hope to get some from friends...
I spent a couple days doing some day hikes in the Fiordland area... I am now in Queenston hanging out for a couple days.... Queenstown is a very busy place... reminds me of Whistler.... very touristy.... but this is the area where people come to do all the adventure skydives and bungee jumps... I haven't attempted this yet... but you never know, maybe one day....
Last night I met up with an old friend from my very early Whistler days... Micheal Glock, and I got to meet his girlfriend Lisa... we had a few beers and dinner and got to reminisce and catch up...
I am heading back to Christchurch tomorrow to pick up Garret from the airport, we plan to head north from there and down along the West coast of the South Island... so I'll be on to more adventures with him up there, probably get some rock climbing and more hiking in...
So, Have a beautiful day, send me updates on what you are are up to... I love hearing about what people are doing... please keep in touch!! Big Hug Jamie
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