Ice, Ice Baby

I feel like I've lost a couple of months from my life. Maybe it was the 3+ week vacation that we just spent in the USA. Whatever it was, I came back to the USA feeling discombobulated about when and where we were.
Coming back to NZ was a refresher in our "old lives". We came back to certain things I will never understand (but I appreciate now). I have to admit, I missed lots of things about the USA but I actually did miss things in New Zealand.

I'm surprised that I didn't get killed during the 3 weeks we spent back home. I kept forgetting to lock doors and didn't realize that I wasn't in the relatively safe bubble of the South Island of New Zealand anymore.
Coming back was difficult (mostly because of the 30+ hours we spent flying) but I was happy to be in our little town again. I missed the very relaxed, trusting nature of the Kiwi people.

Gotta love the trusting nature...You take a jam, you put money in the box...No cashier or cameras needed

What I didn't miss was the lack of summer. I feel that I totally missed  the summer. Maybe its because I came from Phoenix where the summer time temperatures routinely go above 100F. Maybe its because in the summer the sun would rise at 530am and set well after 10pm. No matter, I felt like we missed a chunk of season somewhere around here.
That would be my only gripe about living on the South Island of New Zealand. There is no summer.
If you like wandering around in short shorts and basking in hot sun, this will not be the place for you.
In fact, I don't think my shorts ever saw the light of day in New Zealand. I honestly don't think that the temperature ever got hot enough to go outside with shorts on (without leg warmers, too).  That's just me. I did miss the summer.
Upon arriving back home to New Zealand we were met with crisp mornings and chilly days. It was fall.
ALREADY?

View of Arrowtown on a autumn day

Fall in Cardrona

So its fall, and we decided to enjoy the change of leaves and the fall weather. Bruce did the research and we decided to spend the weekend hiking and enjoying the fall foliage in Arrowtown and at Mt. Aspiring National Park. Arrowtown is the sight of New Zealands largest gold rush in the 1800's and has a cute little historic town almost perfectly preserved to this day. It is well known for its birch trees and mountain landscapes that make the autumn spectacular. We planned on doing a "short hike" into Mt. Aspiring National Park up to the Rob Roy Glacier. This is where I should have remembered a truth about Kiwi's and their description of activities. Kiwi's lie. Anytime they tell you something is easy, its not. In fact, I have devised my own scoring system based on what Kiwis say:

Kiwi speak:                                 American Translation
"Its easy" =                 "Expect pain that 400mg ibuprofen will take away"
"Its not that bad"=                       "Expect to hurt, a lot"
"Its a moderate hike"=                 "You could possibly die"
"It's a little rough"=      "You sloppy, fat Americans will never make it"
"That's a hard one"=     "Don't try it unless you are ready to meet God"

I should have remembered by translation book.

The drive to the Rob Roy Glacier Track was something that we should have NEVER have done in our tiny little tin Hyundai. The road stopped about 20km outside of Wanaka. It turned into a gravel, unpaved road through farmland. It also had a warning sign about how off-road conditions exist and to use caution. We had been driving for 3 hours and a little off roading wasn't going to stop us! I have to admit, I have never been so proud of my husband's driving skills. If you could have seen him take our 50lb little Hyundai through creeks and over rocks you would be proud too!

Surrounded by sheep

We traveled another 1 hour over the bumpy, unpaved track to the start of our hike. Bruce really wanted to see a glacier but I was getting nervous about the time. We started  out later than expected and the sun was starting to dip low in the sky. I had heard that the hike was about 2-3 hours and we had driven so far that I knew we had to see it before we could turn back. I should have known that it would be a rough afternoon after reading the sign at the trail head:



You can't see the part about a "moderate" hike, but I did...

We started out on what would be an epic battle of wills...The battle between pain and the sweet surrender of death. The hike was more like a 2 hour uphill military death march followed by a back breaking downhill run for another 2 hours.  It was beautiful, but painful. Our lungs, thighs, hips and calves burned with every step. The only thing that kept me going is the knowledge that this hike would allow me to skip the gym every day for a week without feeling guilty. We were rewarded on the hike by several beautiful vistas, cool breezes of glacier fresh air and peeks of the famous glacier around every corner.

At the beginning in the Matukituki Valley

We had to share the start of the hike with livestock

I think he was trying to warn us from doing the hike...

The Swing Bridge of Death

Are we there yet?!

Our first peek of the Glacier

My "When has this ever been OK" moment...

I will never understand the complete disregard of safety on the New Zealand hiking trails. It is totally not uncommon to have portions of trail which have been completely obliterated by large landslides or avalanches. Rather than close the track they just put up polite signs that remind you that you could totally die if you don't pay attention. Gotta love em....

nice, steep track...don't worry about the 50 foot drop below

You first baby

We made it!!! (Thank Goodness you can't see our tears of pain)

View of the Rob Roy Glacier...AMAZING!

After all that hiking we deserved some fresh glacier water

I have purchased bottled water. Fiji, Evian...they are all just "bottled water". In fact, I truly believe that some of it is just purified tap water. I have never tasted anything as good as glacier water. I think it is cool that very few people can say that they actually drank water from a glacier. The water was pure, clear, crisp and ICE COLD! So good!!! WE were beating ourselves up about not bringing empty gallon jugs to fill up and take home with us. I'm sure that water could potentially heal a variety of ills. (It did nothing for my sore butt)

Clear glacier-fed stream

Bruce trying to catch us some dinner...

And God said "Let there be hamburger"...



  After a long day of hiking up and down a mountain, we rewarded ourselves with a stay in a B&B in historic Arrowtown. Arrowtown is one of the most picturesque cities on the South Island and is the home of the historic gold rush of the 1800's. At one time, thousands of miners from all over the world flocked to this tiny New Zealand outpost hoping to find fortune by panning and mining for gold in the area. Now is is a quaint little town with shops and restaurants and a "downtown" so small you could sprint down main street in about 20 seconds flat.

View from our room in Arrowtown

Downtown Arrowtown, rush hour

Once again, we had a great time to explore and enjoy our outside home for a short weekend.

Now its time to bundle up and get ready for the impending weather. And stay away from the "moderate" Kiwi hikes.

The End...for this weekend...