Lady and the Tramp

.....and the Man and the Tramp.  ("tramp" is kiwi speak for "hike").

Cindi tends to tramp blistered feet

For the past month or so the (Dirt) Bravo team has been tramping up a storm down here on NZ's south island!  Tramping, horseback riding, kayaking, it's been a great trip so far.

Moonrise from the Hawken beach bach in Waiwera

Most of the bags were gone by the time we arrived in Picton!!!

Since leaving Whangarei, we've put over 3,500 km on D.B., first stop visiting friends Gray and Carolyn in Waiwera, then down to Wellington to catch a rough ferry crossing over to Picton.

A bit of a close meeting in Marlborough sound

 The drive south was beautiful, a nice mix of coastal and inland road.

Driving toward Mt. Cook, storm clouds brewing

Mt Cook, before the storm hit.  That's Dirt Bravo on the right

Mt Cook was blowing a stormy gale the night we camped there, and the forecast didn't look to sweet for tramping the following day, so we boogied south toward Queenstown.

 Time lapse of Mt. Cook evening storm

Sheep dog working his flock above Moke Lake

Campground host at Moke Lake.  Between arrivals he used his motorcycle to herd (harass??) sheep.

 

DOC camp at Moke Lake.......the big boys and their land toys!

In Queenstown, we met up with Seattle friends Rich and Laura at the airport and went to pick up their camper van rental.

What the Porta Loo lacked in privacy it made up for with the view!!!

Worked out great, except their "self contained" rental had no toilet!!!  Go figure....booked it online, as the saying goes, "the big print giveth, the small print taketh away!!!  No worries, a quick stop at a local hunting/fishing shop had them right as rain!!!

First tramp was the beginning section of the Routeburn track, one of the most famous of NZ's nine "Great Walks".  We drove up to Glenorchy and hiked up past the first hut, at the Flats, to the Falls Hut.  Spectacular mountain and river scenery, and a plush trail and huts.  Takes several months for sleeping hut reservations, which just isn't the way the Bravo's travel, but we got to experience much of the Walk by this long day hike, w/o carrying heavy packs.....sweet as!



Some pix from the Routeburn:

Routeburn Flats hut - sweet lunch stop

Cindi makes her way gingerly across a log bridge as Adam holds it steady!!!

Cindi and "Seth" clearly hit it off from the start!!!

Rich is a "Lord of the Rings" fan, and Laura has a couple of horses back home, so we decided to hire some trusty steeds and head into the L-o-t-R country above Glenorchy.  The riding was fun, and the day was beautiful indeed.....not a bad way to travel!

Texting and driving, a no-no, while a jet boat passes by on the lake in the background....not quite a scene from the movie!!!

The 5 Musketeers !!!

Before leaving Queenstown, we stopped for a pit stop at Arrowtown, an early 1800's gold rush mining town.  While much has been reconstructed as it once was, it's pretty touristy.  The most interesting part was the Chinese camp, where a group of Chinese gold miners who were here seeking their fortunes lived isolated from the other miners.

Chinese camp today, shown above, is pretty much as it's always been

If doors could talk.....lots of stories here

Next up was an exploration of the Lake Wanaka area, about an hour away from Queenstown.  Also surrounded by mountains, the region has some fantastic tramping.  Hard to go wrong on a beautiful sunny day!  Even the drive over was beautiful.

Tramping up at Diamond Lake

First up was a hike up to the Rob Roy glacier.  A great tramp with heaps of "bang for the buck".  Highly recommended!

Gratuitous "sheep shot".....Hey, it's New Zealand, fer chrissakes!!!

Foot bridge marks the start of the tramp up to the Rob Roy amphitheatre

After leaving Rich and Laura to head back up toward Christchurch, we pointed Dirt Bravo toward Fjordland, home of the famous Milford and Doubtful Sounds.  Like most of the area, the drive was beautiful, making its winding way from the sheep and cattle stations around Lake Te Anau up to the mountains of the "Southern Alps". 

We did a great tramp up to Key Summit, which had terrific views into the Milford Sound area which was to follow.  Coincidentally the hike started on the other end of the Routeburn Track, which we'd hiked at the other end the week before!!!

Milford Sound is a rainforest region.  They get over 7 meters (almost 280 inches!!)  of rain each year.  "Rainy" Seattle gets about 36 inches!!!   When raining, the walls above the road are alive with waterfalls everywhere!









We'll leave off here, and save the Milford Sound explorations for the next post.....stay tuned!  Until then, cheers, mates, from Queenstown!  The sun just came out...time for another tramp !!!!

Happy New Years from La Paz

It's been a BUSY past couple of weeks here in and around one of our favorite cities in Mexico.  First, friends from Seattle, Rich, Laura, and Zach came down for a Christmas visit.  Together we ventured forth to set a new record.....how many fun activities can we cram into a short 5 days, especially in such a laid back environment as La Paz???  Well, the Guiness Book may not be knocking down our hatches with the trophy, but we really had a great time trying!!!  First, we headed up to Los Islotes, a couple of islands that we explored back in May, and the home of a very active sea lion colony.

"OK, guys, what do we do for our next trick???"

This guy kept bumping the camera lens!

 The water was colder than before, but the critters were as feisty as ever.  We gave the ornery barking bulls a wide berth, while the females, juveniles, and teenagers had a great time playing with us.  Had a great hour or so in the water with them before heading back to La Paz.




The next day, a strong norther blew in for the next 6 days or so.  With winds up to 35 knots even in the marina, the port captain closed the port to boats leaving.  No worries there, we had no intention of fighting the 8 foot high buffaloes running out in the sea (the Sea of Cortez is notorious for short, steep, closely spaced waves affectionately known as buffaloes).  As weather guru Don Anderson said, "This norther is going to blow the skin off your Christmas rice pudding!!!

So, what to do????  Shopping in town for souvenirs and presents can only go so long.....  We decided to hire a guide service to head out for a day of horseback riding!!!  You heard that right, gang...the intrepid Bravo crew was heading out via yet another new mode of travel.  Figured it would lead to plenty of photo op's, if not opportunities for some new injuries!!!

After driving out to his enormous ranch (started by "el abuelo de mi abuelo", his grandfather's grandfather) the five of us saddled up with our weathered ranch owner/trusty guide, Rosario, and headed up a steep arroyo to the heights above the sea.  It was a great time for all of us (not sure if the beasts of burden would agree!!!)

Here's a ranch with it's priorities straight!!!

Not a lot of marbling on these "lil' doggies"...When you see what they have for grazing land, you can see why!

Adam having a short "come to Jesus session" with his mule, before Rosario strapped a spur on his Nike!!!

Moving out...."these critters are climbing up THAT???"  Yikes!

Views from the mesa above were spectacular.

Finally time to head back down the steep canyon...Rosario and his mule first, but the others weren't so sure!

All in all, it was a great ride, seeing country that most cruisers don't experience.  When we got back to the ranch, our guides prepared a tasty bbq with arracherra beef and cheese made on the ranch.  Zach set up a "slackline" between two trees, and all who wanted to gave it a go (including our guides).  A good time had by all, before making our way back to town.

We've continued to be busy with boat chores.  Minor sail repairs, varnishing, full boat waxing, tracing electrical gremlins, etc.  Had a fun new years party last night at the local cruiser's hangout, Club Cruceros.  The toast was made at midnight ZULU time (Greenwich Mean Time), which around here is 5pm local time!  Made it easy for all of the grey beards and their crews to get back to their boats before dark, if they wanted (the 'Bravo' team, though, as you'd hope, did stay out after dark!)

Well, that's it for this first blog post of 2012.  So as we enter another chapter in this journey, we'd like to wish all of you a very happy new year, filled with happiness, adventure, and discovery.  Central America, here we come!!!