New Zealand - South Island
i used a canon powershot (simple point-and-shoot camera) for a few reason. i knew i was going to be traveling for a month in a half, camping/hiking in rain, throwing packs around, etc.. and didn't want to risk breaking my nice DSLR. also, i wanted a camera that worked on AA batteries and not a rechargeable battery pack, that way i wouldn't have to a) buy an adaptor and b) figure out where and when the hell i had time to recharge a battery pack.
with that said, there are a lot of photos that have washed-out areas, but nothing could be done to fix that, as there was no lens to attach a polarizer or uv filter to.
1
mt. cook/aoraki national park - the first place we stayed for a few nights after landing in NZ
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4
5
6
7
elephant rocks in waitaki valley - north otago
8
9
moeraki boulders on koekohe beach - north otago
10
11
12
new zealand flax plant - widely used by maori for many purposes
13
adorable kitten hanging around portobello holiday park
14
15
did a tour called 'elm wildlife tour' where the group of us went on a bus with two tour guides. this albatross center was one of the places we stopped to learn about these magnificent birds and see a few in flight
16
17
our group split in half while we went different ways to check out the fur seals, where the pups were waiting on the rocks for their mothers to return
18
then we headed down to the beach to check out the yellow-eyed penguins and the NZ/hooker's sea lions
19
20
the tour guide for the half of the group i was with is a penguin enthusiast and explained how yellow-eyed penguins are extremely rare and prey to the invasive stoats and possums. they've built little wooden structures for the penguins to nest in and explained to us about the penguin's molting period where they hardly move around, don't eat, and act very stupid (which isn't good when the sea lions are hungry).
21
22
penguins and sheep in the same shot - only in new zealand
23
a female sea lion came to shore after being in the ocean.. spotted a penguin and being hungry, chased after it. the tour guide (aka mr. penguin enthusiast) was just about to chase away the female when a male sea lion awoke suddenly and distracted her just in time. this got all the other males riled up (before they were sleeping soundlessly)
24
25
26
ah, the tuatapere hump ridge track. one of the "great walks of new zealand". it was pouring before we even left the car park. a 3-day trek overall. 33 miles total (8 hours a day) with our heavy packs on. the first day included a bit of climbing because of the steep terrain.
27
plenty of narrow bridges. they ranged from 20 person to 1 person bridges. the less people allowed on the bridge at a time, the more wobbly the bridge. it was difficult to walk on a 5 person bridge with other people, if their steps were not in tune with your own.
28
we had to walk on a long stretch of beach.. since this was the morning, it was low tide and easy to walk across.. except for some streams heading into the river that we couldn't avoid walking through.. that's when i realized my hiking boots were not in the least bit water resistant..
29
the boardwalk area was nice.. the trees were sheltering the trail from the rain for the most part
30
brilliant bed of moss everywhere
31
after 8 hours, the okaka hut was in view! there were no areas to set up camp, and it was required for all trampers to stay in these huts. they had dorm rooms (8 beds per room) for the group of us and a kitchen with a fire already warming the hut in the fireplace. there are some people that pay for their packs to get taken up on a helicopter so they don't have to hike the track with the weight. so there is a launchpad there (also for emergencies and garbage/recycling removal).
32
the trail forks off and goes up to a loop with magnificent views (this track is east of the fiordlands).
after i got to the hut, dropped off my back and replaced my soaking wet clothing with dry clothing, peeled off my soaking wet hiking boots and socks and threw on some flip-flops, i felt 30 pounds lighter and literally ran up to the loop trail and did the 'hour loop' in 20 minutes. luckily i did it that fast, because it started to pour again just as i finished it.
33
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38
the next morning.. we all got up slowly during sunrise.. knowing we had to head out for another 8 hour hike. lucky for us, it didn't rain that day! but it was surely muddy.
39
40
41
the second hut was full of black flies.. one of the most evil blood-sucking insects i've dealt with. they don't have a proboscis, so they can't probe through clothing. but.. they will walk along clothing until they find an opening. the itch of the bite lasts for at least two weeks. they mostly go away once the sun goes completely down.
and then onto the last and final day. it started out pouring before we even left the hut. this was the worst of the three days and the mud was intense.
since it rained so much.. part of the trail was flooded, and we had no other way around except to go right through it. some places were fast and we had to grab hold to the plans on the edges. after we made it through that (everyone went their own pace.. but a few of us waited for others once we saw that the trail was washed out) we still had to walk along the beach. we weren't supposed to be on it at high tide (which it was at that time) but we were going so slow through the flooded trail. that high-tide beach stretch felt like it took 5 hours (probably only 2).
it was amazing once i got to the end and i was able to put on dry clothes and sit in the van with everyone else that was already there while we waited for the others to arrive.
after the first day of hiking it wet socks and boots for 8 hours, i had blisters forming. after doing that for two more days.. they turned into blood blisters. i took photos, but i'll spare you the visuals.
42
43
remember the bridge photo up above? this is it from the way back.. the bridge was so close to the water on the way back.. it was a bit frightening.
44
mirror lake
45
milford sound
46
took a ferry around the sound
47
48
kea - the only alpine parrot. they are cheeky creatures and often pick at windshield wipes and other car parts.
i have to admit though, they're damn cute.
49
but damn, look at that sharp beak!
50
51
i was surprised to find so many of those around the south island
52
brod bay near lake te anu
53
queenstown.. most tourist town i had ever seen.
54
around haast pass i think
55
fox glacier
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
pancake rocks - punakaiki, west coast
69
weka - flightless bird
70
nz robin - bold and curious
71
after a 2 night camping trip under some large rocks/cliffs in kahurangi national park. it had been rainy and overcast for the past few days and everyone was happy to have the warm sun out again.
72
this is the last place we stayed before we dropped off JD (the botanist) and headed up north
73
74
we had to sit and listen to people present their scientific papers we were assigned. it got a little boring listening to so many, one after the other.. and i searched around where i was sitting for things to do and found this dead bee(wasp?)
75
and made this
76
another bold bird.. the fantail.
77
78
most beautiful sunset i had ever seen.
with that said, there are a lot of photos that have washed-out areas, but nothing could be done to fix that, as there was no lens to attach a polarizer or uv filter to.
1
mt. cook/aoraki national park - the first place we stayed for a few nights after landing in NZ
2
3
4
5
6
7
elephant rocks in waitaki valley - north otago
8
9
moeraki boulders on koekohe beach - north otago
10
11
12
new zealand flax plant - widely used by maori for many purposes
13
adorable kitten hanging around portobello holiday park
14
15
did a tour called 'elm wildlife tour' where the group of us went on a bus with two tour guides. this albatross center was one of the places we stopped to learn about these magnificent birds and see a few in flight
16
17
our group split in half while we went different ways to check out the fur seals, where the pups were waiting on the rocks for their mothers to return
18
then we headed down to the beach to check out the yellow-eyed penguins and the NZ/hooker's sea lions
19
20
the tour guide for the half of the group i was with is a penguin enthusiast and explained how yellow-eyed penguins are extremely rare and prey to the invasive stoats and possums. they've built little wooden structures for the penguins to nest in and explained to us about the penguin's molting period where they hardly move around, don't eat, and act very stupid (which isn't good when the sea lions are hungry).
21
22
penguins and sheep in the same shot - only in new zealand
23
a female sea lion came to shore after being in the ocean.. spotted a penguin and being hungry, chased after it. the tour guide (aka mr. penguin enthusiast) was just about to chase away the female when a male sea lion awoke suddenly and distracted her just in time. this got all the other males riled up (before they were sleeping soundlessly)
24
25
26
ah, the tuatapere hump ridge track. one of the "great walks of new zealand". it was pouring before we even left the car park. a 3-day trek overall. 33 miles total (8 hours a day) with our heavy packs on. the first day included a bit of climbing because of the steep terrain.
27
plenty of narrow bridges. they ranged from 20 person to 1 person bridges. the less people allowed on the bridge at a time, the more wobbly the bridge. it was difficult to walk on a 5 person bridge with other people, if their steps were not in tune with your own.
28
we had to walk on a long stretch of beach.. since this was the morning, it was low tide and easy to walk across.. except for some streams heading into the river that we couldn't avoid walking through.. that's when i realized my hiking boots were not in the least bit water resistant..
29
the boardwalk area was nice.. the trees were sheltering the trail from the rain for the most part
30
brilliant bed of moss everywhere
31
after 8 hours, the okaka hut was in view! there were no areas to set up camp, and it was required for all trampers to stay in these huts. they had dorm rooms (8 beds per room) for the group of us and a kitchen with a fire already warming the hut in the fireplace. there are some people that pay for their packs to get taken up on a helicopter so they don't have to hike the track with the weight. so there is a launchpad there (also for emergencies and garbage/recycling removal).
32
the trail forks off and goes up to a loop with magnificent views (this track is east of the fiordlands).
after i got to the hut, dropped off my back and replaced my soaking wet clothing with dry clothing, peeled off my soaking wet hiking boots and socks and threw on some flip-flops, i felt 30 pounds lighter and literally ran up to the loop trail and did the 'hour loop' in 20 minutes. luckily i did it that fast, because it started to pour again just as i finished it.
33
34
35
36
37
38
the next morning.. we all got up slowly during sunrise.. knowing we had to head out for another 8 hour hike. lucky for us, it didn't rain that day! but it was surely muddy.
39
40
41
the second hut was full of black flies.. one of the most evil blood-sucking insects i've dealt with. they don't have a proboscis, so they can't probe through clothing. but.. they will walk along clothing until they find an opening. the itch of the bite lasts for at least two weeks. they mostly go away once the sun goes completely down.
and then onto the last and final day. it started out pouring before we even left the hut. this was the worst of the three days and the mud was intense.
since it rained so much.. part of the trail was flooded, and we had no other way around except to go right through it. some places were fast and we had to grab hold to the plans on the edges. after we made it through that (everyone went their own pace.. but a few of us waited for others once we saw that the trail was washed out) we still had to walk along the beach. we weren't supposed to be on it at high tide (which it was at that time) but we were going so slow through the flooded trail. that high-tide beach stretch felt like it took 5 hours (probably only 2).
it was amazing once i got to the end and i was able to put on dry clothes and sit in the van with everyone else that was already there while we waited for the others to arrive.
after the first day of hiking it wet socks and boots for 8 hours, i had blisters forming. after doing that for two more days.. they turned into blood blisters. i took photos, but i'll spare you the visuals.
42
43
remember the bridge photo up above? this is it from the way back.. the bridge was so close to the water on the way back.. it was a bit frightening.
44
mirror lake
45
milford sound
46
took a ferry around the sound
47
48
kea - the only alpine parrot. they are cheeky creatures and often pick at windshield wipes and other car parts.
i have to admit though, they're damn cute.
49
but damn, look at that sharp beak!
50
51
i was surprised to find so many of those around the south island
52
brod bay near lake te anu
53
queenstown.. most tourist town i had ever seen.
54
around haast pass i think
55
fox glacier
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
pancake rocks - punakaiki, west coast
69
weka - flightless bird
70
nz robin - bold and curious
71
after a 2 night camping trip under some large rocks/cliffs in kahurangi national park. it had been rainy and overcast for the past few days and everyone was happy to have the warm sun out again.
72
this is the last place we stayed before we dropped off JD (the botanist) and headed up north
73
74
we had to sit and listen to people present their scientific papers we were assigned. it got a little boring listening to so many, one after the other.. and i searched around where i was sitting for things to do and found this dead bee(wasp?)
75
and made this
76
another bold bird.. the fantail.
77
78
most beautiful sunset i had ever seen.