Category: Tours

ADVENTURE NZ: Queenstown

11/25/2015

We chose to settle in Queenstown because of the nearby ski fields, but the town also has a reputation for being the adventure capital of New Zealand. Although the majority of the activities were well out of our price range (even with working five jobs between us) we still managed to do a few crazy things over our six months in town.

When we first arrived in Queenstown we took a job with Ziptrek EcoTours, guiding guests on 4 or 6 ziplines on top of Bob's Peak overlooking Queenstown. It was a bit different than the zipline we worked on in Alaska... there were no flips or tricks allowed and our tour was scripted right down to the jokes we were supposed to tell. I wouldn't exactly consider it an adventure activity, but the views were beautiful and as guides we were given the opportunity to do a few of the other tours in town for free. We spent as much time as we could in the winter trying to get our money's worth out of our ski passes, and between zipline guiding, go-kart supervising, babysitting, and working at the airport we didn't have many days off together to do anything else. Luckily we had a much lighter schedule for our last two weeks in New Zealand with only one job each, so we were able to cram in quite a few adventures.

The zipline was located at the top of the Skyline Gondola along with quite a few other activities, such as mountain biking trails, tandem paragliding, a street luge track and a bungy jump. Queenstown is the home of the worlds first bungy jump, off of the Kawarau Bridge, and the same company operates this shorter but more scenic jump overlooking Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu as well. Although the drop is only 154 feet, its location on the side of the mountain makes it feel much higher. We had both been bungy jumping before in Washington, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity to do a free jump in the town where it all got started. Unlike a traditional jump where the cord is attached at the ankles, we were given a full body harness and attached by the waist which gave us the ability to do different jump styles. I opted for a running front flip and Steve did a handstand into a forward dive.

Another activity we got the opportunity to experience through our jobs at Zip Trek was the Shotover Canyon Swing, billed as the worlds highest cliff jump. From a platform 357 feet over the Shotover river we got to experience a 196 foot free fall, but instead of bouncing back up like a bungee jump we swung out in a 656 foot arc over the canyon below. The rope was connected to the harness at the waist, giving us the opportunity to plunge to possible death in whatever manner seemed best. I chose my signature front flip, and Steve decided to step off sideways while staring straight down to get the full effect of the free fall. After our first solo jumps they gave us the opportunity to go a second time for free, so we decided to do a tandem jump, strapped together at the hip. This time we swung out slowly over the canyon and hung upside down to stare down at the river before our jumpmaster released us. You know what they say, the couple that plummets towards the ground together stays together... or something like that.

After enjoying the Shotover river from above, we decided to get a closer look with a ride on a Jetboat. Shotover Jet has been around since 1965, and was one of the first adventure activities in Queenstown. The jetboat is a very iconic New Zealand activity, and we didn't want to leave the country without experiencing a ride in one. Rather than having a propeller at the back of the boat, jetboats draw water through a pump inside the boat, and eject it out the back allowing them to operate at speed in water only 3 inches deep. Our driver was able to skim across the surface of the shallow river at 60mph, barely dodging the canyon walls as he expertly maneuvered past giant boulders and executed 360 degree spins. The ride lasted over 25 minutes, and we had such a good time that when we got back we decided to pay $20 for a second ride. At $150 for nearly an hour of jetboating, we felt like it was the best value for our money activity that we did in our entire stay in New Zealand.

Check out the Movie page for videos from our adventures in Queenstown and see more photos here.

ADVENTURE NZ: Milford Sound

5/22/2015

The view from our front door

We've been in Queenstown for a little over a month now, and we've been so busy finding an apartment and interviewing for jobs that we've had very little time for adventure. We had a bit of a "chicken or egg" situation when we first arrived, since no one wanted to rent us an apartment without proof of employment, but no one wanted to hire us until we had a local address. Fortunately we were able to submit proof of sufficient funds with a local real-estate company, and our application for an apartment in the suburb of Frankton was approved fairly quickly. We live at the top of a very steep driveway with fantastic views looking out over lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. We're both working as zipline guides with Ziptrek EcoTours, but Steve recently accepted a second part-time job with a local Go-Kart operator and I'm training for a part-time role as a customer service agent with Air New Zealand. We're hoping that having several jobs will help us save back some of the money we spent exploring on our bikes for 4 months.

With all the interviewing, training, and working we've been on very different schedules for the last few weeks, so when we found out we were both off on Wednesday we decided to make the most of a rare opportunity and go on an adventure. One of the perks of working for Ziptrek is that we get to enjoy free tours with several local companies so that we can recommend them to our guests, so we decided to call up Roscos Milford Kayak Tour and see if we could tag along. As soon as Steve finished work on Tuesday we jumped in the car and made the six hour drive down to Milford Sound. We camped for the night at the DOC campground at Lake Gunn, and met up with our guide at the Milford Sound Lodge the next morning at 10am. We've seen a lot of rain here in Queenstown in the past few weeks, so when we woke up to a dark and rainy day we weren't too surprised.

We had a great time out on the water, despite the cold and the rain. We were outfitted in base-layers, a fleece and a waterproof jacket and given a spray skirt and kayak specific neoprene gloves. We shared a tandem sea-kayak that we steered with a pedal and rudder system, so we didn't have to coordinate our paddling to turn. Much nicer than the last time we went kayaking together, when we had an inflatable kayak with one kayak paddle and one canoe paddle, and our boat got a puncture halfway down the river. We started out with some quick safety instructions before we split up into a small group and headed out with our guide. We paddled through a fairly shallow marshy area and out to an enormous waterfall fed by a remnant glacier. From there we made our way up the fijord, paddling along the cliffs that extended all the way into the water before paddling across the open water to the other side. We stopped in the middle of the fijord to watch a seal playing in the water and warmed up with a hot drink before continuing to the other side and back down to where we started. We passed several more waterfalls on our way back to the dock that wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been raining, so there was a silver lining to the wet weather.

We got off the water around 3pm and got back on the road to Queenstown as soon as we could to try and make as much of the scenic drive in the daylight as possible. We stopped off in Te Anau to get gas and treated ourselves to a nice dinner and made it home just after 9:30. It was really nice to get out of Queenstown for a day, but we were grateful for our nice warm bed at the end of our long adventure!

To see more pictures, check out the Photo post.

Bike Tour NZ: The Motu Trail

2/2/2015

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The view from the Old Motu Rd

Soaking in the hot water stream

After skydiving and volcano hiking we spent another week in Taupo at a free camping spot called Reids Farm, right next to the Waikato river 3km outside of town. We explored town, went out to eat, and reconnected to the outside world at the library. We visited the Anarchy Boarding Park and took wakeboarding lessons, and the next day had a relaxing afternoon floating down the Waikato river on $6 pool toys with a stop off at a natural hot spring emptying into the river. On our last day in Taupo we rented a car and drove 2 hours West to Waitomo to the famous Black Water Rafting Company, and took a three hour excursion through a glow worm cave. They dressed us up in wetsuits, gave us some inner tubes and tools us down into Ruakuri cave where we climbed over rocks, jumped off of underground waterfalls and floated beneath a glowworm studded ceiling that looked like the night sky. So far Taupo is our favorite city on the North Island, and we were a bit reluctant to leave, but we had reached the 7 day camping limit at Reids Farm so it was time to move on.

We had spent a good deal of time at the library researching our route, and after hearing horror stories about big mountains, narrow roads and heavy traffic we decided to take a North Eastern route to Gisborne rather than go South through Napier. Despite having done very little distance on the bikes in the last several weeks we had a much easier time in the saddle than we expected. The weather was hot and the road was hilly, yet we managed our biggest day so far, riding 9 hours and racking up 135.6 kilometers, beating our previous distance record by almost 50k. We started by retracing our route back up the 5 past Reporoa before turning East onto the 38. There was a long steep climb out of Taupo and then rolling terrain after that. At Rotomahana we turned onto a back road that cut through to the 30, but turned onto a private logging road after a lady pulled over to suggest it. It was paved the entire way rather than gravel like the way we would have gone, and she said if security caught us to just say that we were lost. We almost made it, but a security truck pulled us over just 5k from the end of the road. He we friendly enough a let us continue on, and we popped out on the 34 just a few k before the junction with 30. We stopped at a dairy in Te Teko and each downed a whole liter of chocolate milk before continuing on until just after dark, when we came across a holiday park at a natural hot spring and decided to spend the night.

1000 kilometers and counting!

Our big ride the day before put just shy of the 1000 kilometer mark on Steve's odometer, so the next morning we reached that milestone a little over 30 minutes into our ride, shortly before we arrived in Whakatane at noon. We made it just in time for the end of their Sunday farmers market and picked up some veggies for dinner along with a bag of fresh cherries and two delicious tangelos. Leaving town there was a HUGE hill on the way to Ohope, and several more big climbs after that, and although we only covered 71k that day we both agreed it was more exhausting than the 135 the day before. We rolled through Opotiki in the evening just in time to buy some spam for dinner from a convenience store and found a spot to hide our tent in the bushes of a pull-out next to a beautiful beach before jumping in the ocean to cool down.

Jennies bike in front of the fountain of life.

From Opotiki we turned off the main highway and headed down the Moto Road Trail, a 67k cycleway that follows the historic coach road from Matawai to the coast, which was the first road between Gisbourne and the Bay of Plenty. It opened in 1915, and was originally only passable in the summer with the aid of planks and ropes to get the cars through. It was a beautifully scenic ride through gorges and over farmland, but the incredibly steep hills and rough gravel made it pretty slow going under the intense New Zealand sun. The description of the trail said it would only take 5 hours, but when we looked again we realized that we were going the opposite direction of the way most people ride and so would be going uphill pretty much the entire way, effectively doubling the time it would take. On the second big mountain we began running short of water and I was just starting to get worried when we came upon a little stream trickling down the side of the mountain, with a handwritten sign that said we could drink the water. We were so excited that we both drank ourselves sick and refilled every water bottle we had before we moved on. We spent the night close to the summit of the third big climb, clocking in at only 51k in almost 7 hours of riding.

Motu Falls

Our long uphill battle the day before paid off in the morning when we were able to start our day with a gentle ride along the ridgeline, with only a few more moderate climbs between us and a 3k stretch of downhill into the tiny farming community of Motu. As we came into town a man traveling down the road on a lawnmower pointed us in the direction of a community rowboat on a tiny pond, so we rowed out onto the water to eat our lunch before taking a 10k detour to visit Motu falls. From there it was an easy 14k on a flat, paved road to Matawai where we stopped to have a beer at their historic pub that is famous for its 2-headed sheep. We left town on the main road but soon turned onto another gravel road to head towards Rere Falls, and we set up our tent in a small turnout on the side of the road just as a big rainstorm rolled in.

The next morning we step off on our shortest ride of this leg of the trip, just 38k to the farm we were planning on staying at, but it seemed to take forever. A few more long uphill stretches in the morning and a long stretch of downhill just before we arrived, and a few surprises along the way. We had rain off and on as we got underway, and two rogue sheep led us down the road for several kilometers before a pair of bulls startled as we road by and jumped the fence into the road in front of us. We arrived at the farm just in time for lunch and then got to work helping around the farm. The current plan is to stay here in Rere for a little while and then head to Gisborne.

For more pictures from the Motu Trail check out the photo post.

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Bike Tour NZ: Taupo

1/11/2015

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Steve

We didn't wake up last Wednesday morning planning on jumping out of an airplane, but when we got to town at noon we learned Taupo Tandem Skydiving had an opening, so 5 hours later we were enjoying a birds eye view of town. They picked us up from our campground and drove us to the airport, and everything happened so fast neither of us had time to be nervous. It was just us and one other guy jumping from 15,000ft so it didn't take long to get geared up and onto the plane. It was about a 15 minute flight up, and on the way our instructors pointed out some of the mountains in the area, and the wreckage of another skydiving plane that had crashed into the lake a few hours before. Lucky for us the it was the other company, and the odds of that happening twice in one day are pretty slim so we weren't worried about it. Besides, if a plane is going to go down it might as well be one where everyone is wearing a parachute... everyone made it out just fine including the pilot.

Jennie

Since I was in the back of the plane I was the first to jump. We had to wear oxygen masks right up until the door opened, and then we didn't waste any time getting to the opening and hanging our feet over the edge. We paused for a second to take in the view and then leaned forward out of the plane. The free fall lasted almost a full minute, and although I didn't feel the typical falling sensation you would expect, it was so windy up there it literally took my breath away. Once we pulled the chute everything became incredibly peaceful, and we floated down over the lake swinging from one side to the other and taking in the scenery. My instructor even let me steer the chute for a while, and let me do a few tight spirals that brought my stomach into my throat. Before I knew it we were touching down lightly on the ground... it was definitely over way too soon. I could have stayed up there all day. Steve was the last on the plane to jump, but he touched down less than a minute after I did.

Emerald Lakes

We could only afford to stay at the campground in town for two nights, so we arranged for a bus to pick us up at 6am the next morning to take us to the trail head for the Tongariro Crossing. We drove about 45 minutes to the trail head at Mangatepopo car park, and we were told to be at the end of the trail by 430 to catch the bus back to Taupo. There were a lot of bigger busses there as well, and the first part of the hike was very crowded. Constantly passing people and being passed on the narrow trail definitely took away a bit from the experience, we're not used to hiking with such crowds. Eventually the masses thinned out a bit, although there were always loads of people at the best viewpoints.

Mt. Doom

The hike was 19.4k and took us just under 8 hours. We had a pretty gentle walk the first few kilometers to Soda Springs, and then a steep climb up to the South Crater between Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. Ngauruhoe is the mountain they used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies, and we were tempted to climb it, but we just didn't have the time. From there we crossed the South Crater and climbed up to Red Crater which is still an active steaming vent. From that highpoint we could see for miles across the central plateau and had great views of the Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake. We descended from there down a steep scree field, across the rim of the Te Maari Crater and up another short ascent past Blue Lake before skirting around the edge of the mountain and steadily descending 12k down to Ketetahi Car Park where ether bus picked us up just after 4:30.

The next morning we woke up a bit stiff from our long walk and packed everything up at the campground in town to move to Reids Farm, a free camping area about 3k outside of town. We are tucked away in a nice shady spot well away from the crowds and have been enjoying daily swims in the beautiful blue Waikato River. Yesterday we rode into town to see the final Hobbit movie and eat at the "Worlds Coolest McDonald's," which is inside an airplane. We plan on staying in town for a few more days, and then heading out towards Gisbourne.

To watch us jump out of an airplane, head over to the Movies page, and check out the photos too!

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Bike Tour NZ: Rotorua

1/7/2015

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Pukeko

The 87k from Matamata to Rotorua was our most difficult ride yet in terms of traffic. We went most of the way on the 5 which was incredibly busy with almost no shoulder and uphill for ages. We both got run off the road several times by big trucks, and there was a particularly narrow section where I walked in the ditch for almost a full kilometer to avoid being hit, and Steve kept his GoPro running for evidence just in case. We made it to Rotorua around 3pm physically and mentally exhausted, but in one piece. After a stop at the information center we decided to stay at the Cozy Cottage motor park right on the lake, since it was fairly central to town and had its own hot pools to soak our legs.

Rotorua is located in a really geothermally active part of New Zealand, and the town has a ton of boiling mud holes and hot springs, rivers, pools and ponds, and there is a definite hint of sulfur in the air. We spent 4 nights in Rotorua, the longest time we had spent anywhere since Auckland, and we found plenty to keep us busy. On Friday we biked out to Rainbow Springs, a small wildlife preserve where we got to see a bunch of native reptiles and birds, including the adorable Kiwi.

Saturday we spent the day with Kaitiaki Rafting on the Kaituna river. They picked us up from our campground at noon and drove us out to their base where we got outfitted in wetsuits, PFDs, booties and helmets before driving us further down the road to the river. The section of the Kaituna we rafted was a range of class III to class V rapids, and the best part was the 21ft waterfall that we dropped over, fully submerging the raft before popping back to the surface. Apparently that's the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.

After an hour on the river we headed back up to their base and got fitted for a pair of flippers to go sledging. We went a little further down the road this time and hiked down past some caves to put in just below the big waterfall. The sledges are a kind of a cross between a boogie board and the front of a kayak. You lay on your stomach with your arms at about 90 degrees and run the rapids head first. It was a lot more physically demanding than rafting because we had to constantly kick to move through the currents and fight to stay in the right spot over the rapids. We had a lot of fun, but both of us had sore ankles and were definitely out of breath by the end. I guess biking around the country can't get us in shape for everything!

On Sunday we rode our bikes to Ogo to go Zorbing on the longest tracks in New Zealand. We arrived shortly after a tour bus group, but after waiting for a few rounds we were driven up to the top of the hill with our Ogos in tow. We climbed together into what amounts to an enormous hamster ball and they dumped in enough water to make everything good and slippery before sealing it up. Once the track was clear we walked towards the edge of the hill to get the ball rolling, and then slid and spun around inside as we zig-zagged down the track.

We had really settled into our campsite and so we were a bit sad to leave town on Monday morning, but we had plans to stop and check out some of the more stunning geothermal features on our way to Reporoa, so we were excited to get on our way.

For more pictures from our adventures in Rotorua, check out the photo post!

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Bike Tour NZ: Hobbitton

1/7/2015

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We had only planned on spending one night at Te Aroha Landing, but some bad weather blew in overnight, and when we woke up in the morning it was clear it wouldn't be safe for us to ride. It was pouring down rain and the wind was gusting at around 60mph, so we decided to spend another night in our River Chalet and hope the storm would blow itself out by the next day. We were grateful we hadn't been in the tent the night before, because with that wind there probably wouldn't have been much left of it. We spent the day relaxing in bed, watching the second Hobbit movie and eating more delicious food. The hurricane force gusts died down overnight, but there was still a fairly strong wind to fight the next day as we rode towards Matamata.

We covered the 36k in a little over 2 hours, despite the consistent headwind, but when we got to the visitors center we got the bad news that the Hobbitton movie set was still another 16k out of town. We only had another hour before our tour, so we hopped back on the bikes and tried to pick up the pace. We made it to the ticket office at the top of a long steep climb with just a few minutes to spare.

From there we hopped on a bus and were driven over a few more hills and to the beginning of the movie set where we got to get out and walk around. It was really neat to stroll through the Shire and see all of the intricate details from the movies up close. Unfortunately there were quite a few other people in our group and a lot of other groups around, so it was a challenge to get pictures without a bunch of strangers in them. At the end of the tour we stopped at the Green Dragon for a complimentary beer before heading back to the ticket office and hopping back on our bikes to start making our way towards our next stop; Rotorua.

For more pictures, see the photo post.

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AK Road Trip: Family Time in Seward

11/13/2014

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After our adventure in the Arctic Circle we drove down to Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula, to meet up with Steve's family and take a day-cruise on Resurrection Bay (thanks Dad!). We enjoyed a few drinks at the HooDoo Brewery in Fairbanks and dinner at Silver Gulch Brewing in Fox before driving most of the way to Anchorage overnight. In the morning we woke up and did the more scenic portion of the drive through the Chugach State Forest, enjoying the countless views of mountains, inlets, lakes and glaciers before arriving in Seward at noon.

The cruise wasn't scheduled to depart until 1pm, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch out of the rain on the boat ramp and watched the jellyfish drifting lazily through the harbor. The sky began to clear shortly before the boat left the harbor, and we sailed away from Seward under blue skies with a brisk wind. The majority of the passengers on the cruise seemed to be from some sort of historical society, and there was a guest-narrator who focused mostly on the military history of Resurrection Bay. We sailed past huge mountains with hanging glaciers, along rugged coastline, and past islands both large and small that had been used as lookout posts during WWII.

The weather seemed unable to make up its mind, and the mix of sun and rain provided us with some beautiful rainbows as we headed South, but the clouds in the distance began to take on a darker more sinister hue. Soon enough we spotted lightning in the distance, and as we rounded the corner toward Bear Glacier and Kenai Fjords National Park the seas grew rough and we were pelted with pea-sized hail. After a brief view of the glacier the boat turned North again and headed back toward fair weather. We passed a colony of stellar sea lions relaxing on the rocks at Cape Resurrection, and enjoyed an escort of porpoises surfing our bow-wake as we got closer to the harbor. The boat docked around 4pm, and as we walked back towards town we passed a beautiful sea otter relaxing on his back and enjoying his dinner of mussels from under the dock.

For dinner we went to a nice seafood restaurant right next to the bay and only a short walk from the hotel everyone was staying in. The next morning we ended our time in Seward with a brief walk around downtown before meeting up with the family again for a short hike out to Exit Glacier. The drive back to Anchorage was just as beautiful as the drive out, and we made several stops for photos before arriving in town that afternoon.

For more pictures, see the Photo post.

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ADVENTURE NZ: Queenstown

ADVENTURE NZ: Milford Sound

Bike Tour NZ: The Motu Trail

Bike Tour NZ: Taupo

Bike Tour NZ: Rotorua

Bike Tour NZ: Hobbitton

AK Road Trip: Family Time in Seward

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