Expanding Comfort Zones

I don't generally think of myself as someone who requires a lot to be comfortable. But there are certain luxuries in life I have grown accustom to but have been without for the last several weeks. Like for instance face wash, or a toothbrush longer than 3", (we cut ours in half to save weight). We have had to expand our comfort zones quite a bit for this trip, but the payoffs are quite worth it all. Here is a brief list of our expanded comfort zones:

1. Our feet are wet all the time. Even when it hasn't rained for several days your feet stay wet due to the constant stream/river/bog crossings.

2. The funk. The odor that everything we have with us exudes.

3. We had 6 river crossings yesterday alone one of which the water was above my belly button. (I would have taken photos but we were both just trying to stay alive) River crossings are to New Zealand Hiking what boulder hopping is to Teton Hiking. Just the way it is.

4. When the rare occasion to take a shower comes along we just put the same dirty clothes back on. It's neat.

5. We sleep with strangers. A lot. One night the hut we were staying in was so full we had five people sleeping in a space that barely fit four. We all had to roll as a unit.

6. We put our lives in the hands of those that will pick us up off the side of the street.

7. We have not slept in a bed since we left the States.
8. Neither one of us have shaved since we left.

And here is a brief list of the payoffs!!
Crucible Lake, Mt. Aspiring National Park. Amazing alpine lake with glaciers hanging above it.

Clay and I at Crucible Lake.
Sweetest cooking spot ever. Coming down from Cascade Saddle in Mt. Aspiring National Park.
Dart Glacier. On our way hiking up to Cascade Saddle.
Clay trying to create some artificial sunlight in the tent on our 7th day of straight rain.
Coming down from Harris Saddle on the Routeburn Track.
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Views from the top of Cascade Saddle. One of our toughest days yet. We had to combine two days of hiking in order to take advantage of good weather. The views made it worth the beating.

I Need a Visor Lamp

Like the good folks of Cicely, Alaska we are struggling without any sunlight. Like Walt and company (Northern Exposure, Season 5) we feel like we need some artificial sunlight. We are thinking about trying to rig something up with our rain hats and head lamps. We started our last trip in the pouring rain and finished it in the rain. We should have known our luck was ending when we stood out in the rain for two hours unsuccessfully trying to hitch a ride to the trailhead. In the last seven days we have encountered every type of rain imaginable. Showers, thunderstorms, absolute downpours, misty rain, and snow one morning. Our first trek we were worried about getting sunburnt and on this one we were worried about trench foot. It was still a great time though. We linked up three different trails to make one long trip of about 100 kilometers. We did the Greenstone/Caples Loop, and finished up with the Routeburn Track. It was a great time. We stayed at some of the backcountry huts which made the never ending wetness a bit easier to handle plus we met heaps of fun people. The last hut we stayed at slept 16 people. When we went to bed there were over 30 people in this tiny building. Cozy. One of the hut wardens was warning us about a particularly boggy spot that floods really bad with lots of rain. He said, "If the water is chest high it is manageable, but if it is above your head it is unsafe." Ok sweet, great advice. But we just got back into Queenstown where we plan on hanging out for a bit before we head back in for some more hiking.

Some shots from the Kepler Track. 1. Top of Luxmore Saddle. 2. Hiking across the alpine section of the Kepler Track. 3. Our last campsite on the Kepler Track. We had this whole lake to ourselves. It was awesome.

Home sweet home. We met up with a friend of a friend from the states and he let us sleep on his back porch for a couple nights. Score.

The Greenstone Hut on the Greenstone Trail. Sweet hut in the middle of nowhere. Even had flush tiolets. Craziness.

*Internet time is almost up..but more pics to come.

Unintentionally Growing Dreads

I have never wanted dreadlocks, but up until I took a shower yesterday I felt like I was well on my way to having some. We just finished up our first track, the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park. Prior to that though we hitchhiked our way from the middle of the North Island to the south end of the South Island. 1700 kilometers. Sweet. We camped the along the way at "holiday parks." Holiday Parks are the KOAs of New Zealand. Kind of expensive but have lots of amenities. So fortunately we could take showers. But check this out ladies. My shampoo (Dr. Bonners Suds) is the same soap we use to wash our clothes, our pots, our bodies etc. etc. Doesn't really have any volumizing attributes. (But it does have an over powering peppermint scent.) Oh yea and my brush is my fingers. So then follow up that week of awesome hair care with about 4 days of no showers and wam bam you are on your way to some sweet dreadlocks. But insert yesterday's shower (with shampoo and conditioner) and the dread cycle has been reversed. Sweet. But the Kepler Track was even sweeter. We had amazing weather. Which is saying a lot for here since they get 9 meters of rain a year. But next we are heading just a wee bit north of here to do the Routeburn and Greenstone/Caples Tracks. They start in Fiordland National Park but end up in Mt. Aspiring National Park. Anyways here a couple shots from the Kepler Track. Cheers.

Well after several attempts I cannot seem to get the pics to post. But I will try again later when I find another library with free internet :)

'MIND THE STEP'

That's good advice. This sign has greeted us several times since we have been here. The first time getting off our plane in Auckland and the second time getting off a ferry boat. Those steps we navigated without any mishaps. But walking around through traffic is a bit more challenging. Clay has nearly walked into oncoming traffic twice now. That whole driving on the opposite side of the street makes crossing the road a bit more precarious. You don't know which way traffic is coming from. Since arriving in Auckland on the 6th we have become proficient hitchhikers. Neither one of us have ever hitchhiked. So it was a whole new adventure for us. And so far it has went pretty well. In two days we have managed to hitch rides from Auckland (north island) to the south end of the South Island. A distance of about 1200 kilometers. We now only have about 300 kilometers to go to Te Anau which is where we start our first hike. We have met some pretty interesting folks though while hitching. Dean the dairy farmer has been the best so far. We rode with him for nearly six hours and then stayed with him that night. It was pretty sweet since we had no idea where we would have stayed otherwise. Then there was Collen the one-legged meat deliveryman. We rode with him for a while and went around on all his stops and helped him deliver his meat. Our packs rode in the freezer. But as we got to know Collen we found out he was a convicted criminal for threatening to kill someone. Neat. He was also trapped in an auger for 7 hours, hence the missing leg. Random. He was a nice guy, but we were glad when he dropped us off at the ferry terminal and we could retrieve our very chilled packs. There have been countless others but those were the most interesting. So we haven't done any hikes yet but we have already walked heaps. With no car getting around can be a bit tricky. The other night after taking the ferry, (which was sweet, if you have ever taken the one at the Outer Banks, this was nothing like that..pics to follow) from the North Island to the South Island, we had to walk an hour out of town to get to a campground. We didn't get there until 10:30pm. Then the next morning we had to turn around and walk back into town. It is sweet just takes us a bit longer to get places. Well we gotta go put our thumbs to the sky and try and find a ride. But don't worry we will be 'minding our steps.'

Getting ready while staying at Carol's home for wayward children. If she would start a home here she could make a killing.

Although there are a lot of unfamiliarities here there is one universal truth, all the cool kids get around on two wheels.