Tongariro Crossing/Kaikoura/Catlins/Julian discovers new setting on camera

Meaghan at the top of Mount Luxmore.



View from the Kepler Track.



Sun setting from the Luxmore Hut.



Landscape view of Kepler Track.





At Southernmost point of the South Island, some of the highest wind speeds experienced.




Coastline at Nugget Point in the Catlins region.



Lazy (insert day of week here) for Mr. Fur Seal.

Crater of Mt. Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom for LOTR fans)... I think I saw something shinning in at the bottom... maybe the ring wasn´t destroyed after all.

Relaxing at the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe, it was the most exhausting climb I´ve ever done... very steep uphill for an hour on volcanic ash.

View from the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe.

Doesn´t look as bad from this picture but looks can be deceiving... very deceiving.

One of the craters along the way.

Emerald lakes along the Tongariro Crossing.

Lakes / Mt Cook / Otago / Routeburn / Kepler

If any of you are keeping track of our itinerary, you will note that although we are posting photos of New Zealand, we are actually in Buenos Aires. ¿Porqué? Because internet was hard to come by slash very expensive in NZ. So here´s a taste of our last month or so!

Let´s start out with a couple jumping photos in front of Lake Tekapo.

Julian looks like he´s being hurled through space

Driving through central Otago late in the afternoon was gorgeous


Julian in central Otago


On the way to Aoraki/Mt Cook (NZ´s highest peak)



Julian in front of Mt Cook

We did a couple treks while in NZ. The following couple photos are from the Routeburn Track. Beeeautiful.

Julian decided to go swimming in a glacier-fed waterfall. I watched from afar. An older couple walked by and commented to me: "that young man is crazy to be in there!"..... all´s well that end´s well.

Julian taking a photo of me. The smile indicates my happiness for taking a break.

Me in the mountains

Julian in the fog

Julian has conquered Conical Hill (the highest point on the Routeburn Track).

Hanging out with Elie our tramping buddy.

Julian and one of many waterfalls.

Now this is in Milford Sound on a boat tour (we thought we´d give our muscles a break after the 3-day hike)

The break was short-lived however... here´s Julian near the start of the Kepler Track (another 3-day hike)

Julian on the arrete that we walked along. Talk about glacial formations humina humina... shout out to geog nerds!

Me on the edge of the track

Julian above the clouds

Here´s a quick video to show you the view from part of the Routeburn track to give some scale:

Random

We went caving! ... in flip flops. Not our brightest moment, but it was fun and we escaped with only minor bruises.

This is the entrance:


Pretty dark!


Water was rushing past us at varying depths of ankle- to knee-deep. It was also freakin freezing.


With the flash:

Without the flash:

When we took pictures with the flash we realized how neat the formations were:

Finished (it took us about an hour). This is the cave exit:

We also did some hiking at Arthur's Pass:

And hung out on the beach near Greymouth:

Annnd checked out some pancake rocks at Punakaiki

So we did some sea kayaking..

We kayaked for 3 days in Abel Tasman national park which is at the top end of the North Island.

This was the beach just in front of our campground.


Kayaking into nooks and crannies checking stuff out



One night we went in search of a cave. This is Julian scrambling over rocks to get to the cave entrance. Meaghan chose to wade in knee-deep ocean. Both successfully made it to the cave where we checked out some glowworms. It was worth it.


Our tent set up at Mosquito Bay where we spent 2 nights

We actually got pretty close to NZ wildlife... check out the fur seal.

One of our lunch stops

Checking out some more coastline (aka Meaghan wanted a break from paddling.... good thing it was a tandem kayak! hahahah).

Meaghan hanging out on the rocks in the bay of our campsite

This is apparently the "perfect beach"... according to a guide and the Lonely Planet... meh.