I'm back!!!!!!!!!! Adventure time!

Yes, it has certainly been a while hasn't it? I've been up to all sorts of things lately so figured this would be the best medium to update family and friends on the goings on. It would be far too difficult to go right back and fill in the gaps since May (when I last posted) so I'll just start from December. I'll split this into several posts and update my blog over the next few days.

The week before Christmas was spent in the South Island showing my partner's mother some of the sights down that way. We loaded up the trusty van with all sorts of gear and jumped on the interisland ferry on the 16th. School had just finished for the year so we had my partner's youngsters along for the trip as well. They are 6 and 8 year old boys. It was a late sailing so our first night was spent in Picton, not far from the ferry terminal. Day two was spent driving down to Christchurch where we stayed with friends overnight. It was a sunny day there so, before dinner, we headed into the city to go for a walk into the central area where the earthquake damage was plain to see. The council had opened up a walkway to allow people access into the Square. The following is a photo of the damaged cathedral. I understand that it has been further damaged by more aftershocks since we were there.


After a very pleasant night in Christchurch (with no quakes) it was time to head for Aoraki Mt Cook. Along the way we stopped for a picnic lunch in Geraldine and then a brief photo stop at Lake Tekapo.


Soon after leaving Tekapo we diverted onto the canal road and stopped in at the salmon farm. After picking up a good quantity of salmon we were on the last part of the drive to Aoraki Mt Cook. We stayed at the Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Lodge which is about 5 minutes walk from the Hermitage at Mt Cook Village. Our room had a stunning view of Mt Cook.

At night we left the curtains open and would wake in the morning to see the sun shining on the side of the mountain.

Over the next two days we took the boys on two day walks. The first was up to Mueller Hut. The following is a map showing the track we took.


I didn't enjoy this walk much as I had put my neck out during the night and was in a lot of pain. It was good to get up to the hut though and the views were pretty awesome. Mueller Hut is known as the highest backpackers accommodation in New Zealand - it's an easy walk and there are lots of bunks so it gets pretty full in the summer months.

The next day we headed off for a more strenuous walk up to Sefton Bivvy. The bivvy is sited on the rounded knob of rock in the middle of the photo below - pretty much straight up above the white car in the foreground.


The map below shows the way to the bivvy. It's not a marked track as such so you need to know where you're going.


The walk itself was pretty straight forward. It was a super hot day walking up to the bivvy so we were pleased to get there and sit down for a while to have our lunch.


The most amusing part of the day was the discovery of the toilet up there. Talk about a loo with a view. Everyone used the facilities and had their picture taken - here's mine!


So there you go. The first part of my latest adventures. Keep an eye out for the second installment - I'll work on that over the next day or so.