Rachel and Mike in Australia

Over Christmas and New Year’s, we spent 2 and a half weeks on the South Island of New Zealand (gotta love the Aussie attitude when it comes to vacation time–4 weeks is standard!). We had a fantastic trip. The island is much greener, mountainous, and sheep-filled than Sydney. Many of the mountains were carved by glaciers, some of which still exist, so there are massive lakes that are an incredible glacial blue color.

This picture of Lake Tekapo doesn't do the water color justice; it's like a blueberry pop-ice.

The southwestern part of the country is largely Fjordland National Park, which includes the famous Milford Sound. We did one of the New Zealand ‘Great Walks’ in Fjordland, called the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn is a 3-day ‘tramp’ through a remote area of the park. It’s a relatively easy walk covering 32 km (~20 mi) and 800 m (~2600 ft) elevation.

Pre-Xmas dinner drink in front of the Routeburn Falls.

There are several Department of Conservation ‘huts’ along the way where you sleep and which are equipped with running water, wood stoves, and bunk rooms. We started the hike on Christmas Day and lucked out with a gorgeous afternoon of hiking (following a cloudy/rainy morning).  For Christmas dinner we had carried up wine, ham, cranberry sauce, and some fresh veggies. I was expecting people to be on the trail with Santa hats and in a festive mood at the hut. I don’t know if it was because most of them had hiked in the wet morning, but most people weren’t acting as though it was any different than any other day. Luckily my elfish nature had though ahead and brought candy canes and Christmas poppers, so I did my best to spread some Christmas cheer!

Enjoying Xmas dinner and the bounty (crown and stickers) from my Xmas popper.

The second day of the hike we weren’t as lucky with the weather – it was solid rain and clouds, so we missed out on some of the best vistas. We were basically hiking up or down a stream or waterfall rather than a trail, and 95% of the day we were above the treeline, so there was no shelter at all from the rain.

It should have been miserable, but it was still gorgeous. Perhaps the thin air helped by keeping us a bit light-headed? It was like hiking in a cloud forest in some science fiction movie.

Rainy Routeburn

We were rewarded at the end of it by the hut ranger who, rather than just a 5 minute weather briefing, treated the hut to a ~40 minute impromptu stand-up comedy routine. He told us to expect more of the same weather on our last day, but when we woke up the sky was overcast but not raining, and as we hiked, the clouds cleared, so we got some welcome sunshine to dry out our coats, boots, packs, etc.

Return of the sun!

It’s been quite awhile since I posted – what can I say? My new job and commute are keeping me quite busy, and the prospect of sitting at the computer on the weekends is less tempting. Blogging is also a funny way to communicate with people. I mean, I write about what we’re doing and sometimes a few people comment, but mostly it’s me sending things into the void, never knowing if anyone reads it. I’ve hear from a few people that they enjoy the blog and that I should keep it up, so I’m trying to turn over a new leaf and be better about posting this year. However, if you read a blog and enjoy it, please leave a comment, as that will help motivate me to make time for writing and posting.

Here’s what you’ve missed in the last 5 months:

My job is going really well. I’m trying to get 8 town councils in Sydney to change how they deal with water internally and with one another in order to improve the health of the Cooks River, which is the most polluted river in Sydney. As you can imagine, it’s a challenging task, but the people I work with are great, and it’s very rewarding to be doing work that has a tangible effect on the environment.

Stormwater washes litter and chemical pollutants into the river.

Mike jetted around the North American continent in September and October going on research cruises in the Santa Barbara basin and the Cayman Trough, which luckily ended a week before a good friend’s wedding in New York city, so he was able to attend the wedding. My parents visited Oz for the month of November. We had a great time with them and they enjoyed their first trip down under. They jumped right into the Aussie spirit on their first day in the country, which was Melbourne Cup Day. The Melbourne Cup is a horse race that is like the Kentucky Derby, only much bigger. It’s billed as the “race that stops the nation.” The Aussie’s are always up for an excuse to drink or gamble, and Melbourne Cup Day is a quintessential Aussie holiday that incorporates both. Almost straight off the plane, Mom and Dad hopped onto a ferry with me to downtown Sydney where we met some friends to drink champagne and watch the race. In proper Aussie fashion, we made a detour on the way to place some bets, and my Dad picked a winner! Let this me a lesson: the fates smile on those that travel to Sydney (hint, hint!).

Melbourne Cup Winner!

They were also in town for Thanksgiving.  The Aussie’s of course have no reason to celebrate the landing of the pilgrims in the New World, and some find it odd that the holiday is largely about eating copious amounts of food.  The food’s often the best part of any holiday in my opinion, so I wasn’t about to let Thanksgiving go by unobserved.  We rounded up 10 or so Americans and had a proper Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a delicious meal and fantastic company!  Though it did feel a bit bizarre to be celebrating Thanksgiving on a warm spring day where we sat outside to eat.

Thanksgiving in Balmain 2009