CASTLE HILL & CAVE STREAM

Just landed back in the USA!  Sitting in the SF airport United Club lounge.  The free drinks are terrible, you know?  I think I'm about 26 hour into my 36 hour trip from Christchurch, New Zealand to Billings, Montana.  Anyway, I've neglected my NZ blog for a couple of weeks; here's something a few of us did earlier this month.

CASTLE HILL

Used in the final battle scene of the Chronicles of Narnia, Castle Hill is another incredibly unique New Zealand location.  A hill filled with soft limestone rock formations, it almost feels like another planet.  Here's some pictures.  FULL ALBUM HERE.

Overall view of the hill after about 45 minutes of hiking to the summit

Eric Lumpkin admiring the terrain

Chris Kirchner after a very difficult, unassisted climb to the top of this formation

Myself atop one of the many boulders

...and attempting to climb another one

the small summit of the hill behind the boulders

A weird New Zealand tree

The Flag!!!

Typical view

Cave Stream

In the same day, the three of us hiked upstream through a cave (about an hour).  At some points, the water is about chest high.  Additionally, it was pitch black, so headlamps were a necessity.  A few parts of the trek required climbing up a 6 foot waterfall with questionable footing, but overall it wasn't too difficult.  Pictures included in the same album as Castle Hill.

Just realizing how cold the water is.  And how CLEAR it is in every lake and stream.

Entrance to the cave with Eric Lumpkin

Realizing we had to go in the chest high channel on the right

One of two places with footholds in the rock to climb

Scooting along a ledge

Shoulda turned the headlamps off for the photo after we finished

Panorama of the drive home

DON'T SLIP!!

This weekend started out rather tame on Friday (Thur. in the U.S.) with a nice American Thanksgiving dinner with the whole office (15 of us).  It ramped up on Saturday with a high ropes course called Adrenalin Forest.  It then began a steep climb (quite literally) with a hike to the top of Avalanche Peak in Arthur's Pass National Park.  Do check out the full album for the latter.

Thanksgiving

It sucks to be in a foreign country for a holiday as great as Thanksgiving.  Though it wasn't Mom's home-cooked feast, it was a pleasant dinner with Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, and Cranberry Sauce.  It did lack Jell-O, good Rolls, and Sparkling Apple Cider.

High-Ropes Course

The last time I did a high-ropes course, I was in 8th Grade.  It was a field trip to Camp Tamarack for team building with Mr. Cousino's class (block 8D).  With the temperature around 35 degrees (Fahrenheit) and a steady rain all day, my sweatshirt was soaked through, and I almost certainly was hypothermic.  This particular trip was much more pleasant.  If you slip, no big deal, you're clipped in, and you'll just be dangling there.  But Don't Slip.  FULL ALBUM.

65 ft up in the trees (which were swaying considerably)

one of the easier challenges, actually

Avalanche Peak

"Yeah, it's about a 6 hour day-hike with gorgeous views, but it does get pretty steep," says my co-worker, Eric Lumpkin.  That statement was completely true.  However, that statement does not indicate exactly how difficult it would prove to be, nor how dangerous.  The grade was roughly "straight up" and above the tree-line (1/2 way up) you had to literally climb with your hands and feet over rocks with drop-offs on either side.  DON'T SLIP!!  Had I known what this entailed beforehand, I would not have attempted it.  But it was absolutely gorgeous; these pictures neither tell the impossible journey that it was nor do they illustrate the level of beauty observed.  FULL ALBUM HERE.  Later on, I read that it was one of the most challenging hikes in all of New Zealand.  7 mile round trip.  Exhausted, I slept for 13 hours until Monday morning.

about 1/8 of the way up with a view of a waterfall:  Devil's Punchbowl

Wildcat victory over Illinois 50-14, brought the flag 10,000 miles for shots like these.

Coke bottle with label:  "Share a Coke with LAURA"

summit with Eric Lumpkin, note the wind inflating my jacket (probably 40 mph+, very disheartening)

me sitting at the summit because I was too afraid to stand, note the narrow walkway

this picture almost tells the story of how dangerous this hike was

definitely felt like being on top of the world.

typical boulder that you had to climb over, it was like climbing a spine all the way up from the tree line.

NELSON TRIP

Took a trip to Nelson, NZ and Mouteka this past weekend with 5 of my co-workers.  The 10 hours of total driving was all incredibly scenic and vastly different.  Check out THE FULL ALBUM HERE.

SKYDIVING!!!

I am somewhat afraid of heights.  I didn't ride a real roller coaster until I was 18.  I would say, after skydiving, I'm pretty much over it.  The Kiwi strapped to my back says, "We are now taking off in a plane....that we will not be landing in."

But it was amazing!  Abel Tasman SkyDive is supposedly one of the best places in the world to do it:  the views were amazing (20 minute plane ride) and we jumped from an altitude that is rare to see in the U.S. (16,500 ft).  We had to have oxygen on the way up, and we got 70 seconds of freefall before pulling the chute.  The five minutes after that (from 5,000 ft to the ground) was completely SERENE (a stark contrast from the previous minute).  It was deathly quiet and the views of two National Parks, the Cook Strait, and the North Island were incredible.

DISCLAIMER:  I didn't take this picture.  This is Kiki, one of my coworkers.  Next time I'll spring for the $200 pics/video.

PLANE-FLYING!!

I didn't partake in this, but my co-worker, Chris got to pilot a stunt plane for 15 minutes.  With full-control in the air, he did loops, rolls, and "Cuban Eights."  You definitely won't see this in the States.  I'll probably be back for this.

Chris and Pilot in a "Pitts" stunt plane

THE DRIVE BACK

Driving back from Nelson, we got to enjoy the "warm" river pictured below, a split-apple rock formation, baby seals, and the incredibly scenic east coast.

Two guys (Eric and Chris) swam about 300 metres to "Split-Apple Rock."  It was freezing.

Jumping into the crystal clear river (12ft deep).  See the whole sequence in the album.

Short hike to a rainforest waterfall with baby seals in the pool below.  Me, Kiki, Chris.

Close-up of me and seal-pup.  These little guys climb upstream about 500m from the ocean just to play here.

Gorgeous New Zealand east coast

ARTHUR'S PASS

I took a roadtrip by myself after my first week of work.  Just needed to stretch my legs a bit and see a few sights.  Arthur's Pass National Park is only about 2 hours from Christchurch and is absolutely breathtaking. Everything is so bright - blues, greens, yellows.  Check out the full ALBUM here.

sign upon entering the park

VERY typical sight in all of New Zealand, I think sheep:people = 10:1

the water is so clear!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As someone who has never left North America...and only been to Mexico and Canada for a day's trip, traveling to the other side of the world is very intimidating.  Check out the wikipedia page if you want to get a sense for the country as a whole.

Here are my FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

1.  IT'S NOT THAT WEIRD

The culture here is a bit different, but everyone speaks English (kind of).  You can find McDonald's and Starbucks and Subway.  But you might miss out on Taco Bell and Chipotle, and you'd be hard-pressed to find real Ketchup.

2.  IT'S SO WEIRD

-  Driving on the left side of the road / on the right side of the car is extremely hard to get used to, but only the first few days are bad.
-  The island is only about 100 miles (160 km) wide and it contains ALPINE, RAINFOREST, GLACIER, PLAINS, and COASTAL terrain.  Everything is extremely lush and green, and don't count on the weather staying the same for more than about 20 minutes.
- Getting ready for Winter?  ... It's about to be Summer down here :-D

a sunset on top of a parking garage

3.  COLLO-KIWI-ALISMS

KIWI - a New Zealander (also a native bird and fruit)
CARPARK - parking lot
TRUNDLER / TROLLEY - a shopping cart
RING - (verb) to call on the phone
ZED - the letter "Z"

Commonly said expressions:

"SWEET AS" - akin to "right on" or "wicked"
"GOOD AS GOLD" - hear this one all the time
"NO WORRIES, MATE" - constant
"CHEERS" - this is used everywhere, all the time. basically means "later"

double rainbow outside my motel

INTRODUCTION

Welcome!  For those of you who aren't already aware, I'm going to be in New Zealand until the middle part of next year.  This blog serves to chronicle my adventures and share them all with you! I PROMISE TO ONLY USE PICTURES THAT I HAVE TAKEN MYSELF.

WHO:  

ME, of course.  (Frodo surrogate)

WHAT:

My adventures in New Zealand.  This is one of the most unique places on the planet, and I want to see every square inch of it while I'm here and share it with you.

WHERE:

Christchurch, New Zealand.  The largest city on the South Island and probably the most scenic.

WHEN:

02 November 2012 thru beg June 2013

WHY:

In late 2010 and early 2011, this region of NZ suffered 2 devastating earthquakes.  One of them happened directly under the city center.  This led to numerous building collapses and unfortunately, fatalities.  There is continued debate as to the structural health of the buildings that were damaged, but did not fall down.  My job as a structural engineer is to assess these buildings and develop a strategy going forward:  from doing nothing -> retrofitting the building -> tearing it down.

ENJOY!