TravelStream™ news feed for member nz2008 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nz2008 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:26:28 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203789840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203789840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203789840/tpod.html Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:26:28 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Almond, North Carolina, United States

Well, all our flights went without a hitch, and here we are back where we started. We've definitely turned back into pumpkins, and have boxes of mail to sort through, emails to return, laundry to wash, and internal clocks to reset. The days sure feel short here--we are used to having daylight until 9:30 pm! It feels odd to be putting our boots, tents, and packs, which became simultaniously our ever-present home, our best friends, and our luggage, back in the closet. As we tramped, Sidney was fascinated with the idea that we could put our tents in our packs and our packs in our tents....

We returned to the Asheville airport Thursday night near midnight, and when we checked into a motel across the street and flipped on the TV, the CNN Clinton-Obama debate was about to begin, so we watched it. Now we're up to date.

Thanks, everybody, for being the recipients of (and in some cases, I'm sure, putting up with) our travel notes. It was fun keeping you all updated and--although both Sidney and I kept journals of our own--creating a record of the trip we can look up on the web.

I've added a few photos on a few entries where we couldn't post any at the time, but I'll let you decide for yourselves if you want to go back through and look.

Mary Ellen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203556800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203556800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203556800/tpod.html Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:44:09 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Sydney, Australia

Well, as Steve Longnecker put it, we have a Sidney in Sydney. We're stuck in Sydney Airport for 5 hours (we expected to journey into the city, but we needed a visa). So now we're updating the blog, writing, reading (I bought Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel and Dad has The Amber Spyglass), and updating the blog. We flew from Christchurch this morning, doggiebagging Air New Zealand plastic flatware and All Blacks lollies (hard candies). There really  isn't much happening here,  but it's great to be on our way back home.

Sidney

P.S. Don't give up on us now! We'll be posting post-trip views and info, so keep an eye out!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202201160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202201160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202201160/tpod.html Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:02:02 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Te Anau, New Zealand

"Age is of no importance unless you are a cheese."
--Gibbston Valley Cheesery

I thought of Karen Mickler of Yellow Branch Cheese in Robbinsville when we encountered these words. At Gibbston Valley Cheesery we picked up some sheep cheese (very nutty, with a texture like parmesan) for our next tramp. In the same valley we stopped a Peregrine Winery--a sheep farm turned vinyard that, in addition to its own vines, sells housing lots to wealthy Americans and Europeans. Buyers also get 5 acres of vines, and a contract with the vineyard in the deal. The beautiful old stone woolshed still stands, next to an ultra-modern structure with a roof reminiscent of a cross between an airplane wing and a sail--to house the winery itself, which is partially below ground. We tasted some wine, despite the fact that it was 10:30 am.

This seems to be the way things are in NZ--cutting edge contemporary standing cheek by jowl with the traditional. Just down the road we stopped at Kawarau Gorge and Bridge, where bungee jumping was born in the early 1980s. It's now a multi-level glass and concrete affair, complete with visitor center, cafe, viewing platform, gift shop, and continuous live video. Sidney was fascinated, and we watched 2 women jump at $168 NZ a pop (DVD extra). A few miles on, two farmers hayed a side hill with wooden rakes. Another interesting stop was at a fruit stand, where we saw apricots being harvested and graded. Sidney was fascinated here, as well--with the conveyor system and machinery.

Queenstown may be the Gatlinburg of high adventure/adrenaline sports, but it's a lot more aesthetically pleasing than Gatlinburg itself. We stopped there for lunch and to try to get the airline to add another day to our ticket to compensate for the one we lost on the front end (but it's not looking good). The setting is truly picture perfect--a glittering lake ringed by imposing mountains--I can see the attraction. Still, we were glad to leave the slightly frenzied atmosphere.

We kept on and stayed last night at a tiny motorcamp in Kingston, 1-1/2 hours south at the lower tip of the same lake, an old gold town that has reinvented itself as the home of the Kingston Flyer, a gleaming tourist steam train worthy of a Harry Potter movie. We love the tiny motor parks--what they sometimes lack in amenities, they make up for in charm (they seem to be able to imbue a cinderblock building housing a toilet, shower, and laundry with the ambience of a rose-covered cottage), and the communal kitchens always seem to offer free use of the cooking utensils we lack. Our inventory comprises 3 camping sporks, a Swiss army knife, 3 very small cooking pots, 3 plastic cereal bowls, 2 plastic tumblers, and a lexan mug.

The nights here are very cool--about 3 C last night. We've turned in our rental car and tonight in Te Anau we are in a much fancier place, large and very new, and full of young travelers like the female Israeli hitchhiker we picked up today in Kingston (but here you have to rent pots if you want to use them). We will begin the Kepler Track from here in two days. Tomorrow we'll restock our tramping food and otherwise prepare--we're looking forward to the Kepler because we will be staying in huts and therefore don't have to carry a tent or pads for 3 days.

We've seen no other families tramping; New Zealand school children begin their school year tomorrow--for them, summer is over.

Mary Ellen

P.S. We have learned the NZ falcon has recently been taken off the endangered list, and there is another raptor in NZ--a hawk. Wineries love the falcon because it picks off the blackbirds getting the grapes. Only the hawk stoops to pick up road kill. We hope to see falcon on the Routeburn Track, the second tramp we'll do out of Te Anau--we are told they love the area.

Sidney-- As mom said, we've really been having fun the last few days... relaxing, exploring, and watching the election. In fact, that's what we're doing right now! It looks like Obama is catching up to Clinton, and Huckabee is doing really well- maybe he'll be vice president! That's about all from now, see ya soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203550980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203550980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203550980/tpod.html Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:04:11 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Our day in Christchurch felt like a blur--too much to see and too little time. It's a lovely city of flowers, old buildings, punters on the River Avon, and a beach with an amazing library right there at the pier. Once again I wish we had a few more days to spend here. Maybe another year. We are rounding up our favorite Kiwi treats today, plus a few copies of books we like--Edmund Hillary's last memoir, the British version of Artemis Fowl (the graphic novel rendition), and a Kiwi tramping guide called Don't Forget Your Scroggin (Scroggin is the NZ term for gorp). If you're ever in Christchurch, be sure to check out a fantastic bookstore called Scorpio Books.

We fly out tomorrow; we'll be striking our tent in the dark at 3:30 am to make an early morning flight.

Happy Birthday to Jabez Hammond!

Mary Ellen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203463200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203463200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203463200/tpod.html Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:46:26 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Milton, New Zealand

Our final tramp on the Routeburn Track had the coldest temperatures, the most trampers (and most Americans), and the most waterfalls of any we've done. A hut warden thte first night at Routeburn Falls Hut told us it is now vying with Abel Tazman for the most popular of the Great Walks. Of the 48 bunks in the hut that night, not one was empty. We camped the second night, and all 9 tent sites were taken. The scenery was dramatic--a climb to a subalpine valley, and on the second day an alpine crossing, the route of which took us parallel to high, snow-capped peaks just across the Hollyford Valley. Jim commented they looked so close he felt he could reach out and touch them. The weather was brilliant. After a climb to Key Summit, we descended steeply, and caught  our bus at 1:30 pm from The Divide, same place we started the much rougher Caples Track, and it took us back to Te Anau. Have I mentioned how great the shuttle services are for trampers in NZ?

From there we picked up a rental car again and headed to the southern coast, sleeping at the funkiest campground yet (showers, toilets and a minimal kitchen all housed in ancient cylindrical water cysterns!)--on Curio Bay near the southernmost point of the South Island. It turns out to be one of the only places where the endangered Hector's Dolphins breed and raise their young. It's about to be developed into a marine preserve, so if we ever go there again it will be totally different, but we can say we once spent the night there on a bluff above the beach, the wind flapping and tearing at our tent all night long. A beautiful, wild spot.

Last night we stayed in Milton with friends we met in Collingwood--the ones who were in on the scalloping--and this morning headed north to Christchurch. Tomorrow we will spend the day  there, savoring the last bit of Kiwi food and culture--Jim' s quest for the absolutely best fish and chips, Sidney's des ire to try all the ice creams he's seen advertised on  TV. We have loved 
tramping, and we're glad we're finished.

Mary Ellen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203041580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203041580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1203041580/tpod.html Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:07:14 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Kinloch, New Zealand

Milford Sound gets more rainfall than anywhere on earth, but our day there couldn't have been better for sea kayaking: flat calm in the morning and a soft tailwind in the afternoon as we were returning. Again we had an excellent guide and learned loads about the sound as we paddled the 14 km around its shores. We saw fur seals, dolphins, and many, many flight-seeing planes and helicopters and cruise ships. It was gorgeous, but not quiet.

Our guides then dropped us and our packs at the Divide, the start of the Caples Track, the first and only tramp we'll be doing that's not a Great Walk. Again, the second day was the most spectacular, but it was also the longest and most demanding of any day so far--7 hours to do 15 km, a third of it straight uphill over roots and rocks (handholds required), and a third of it straight down, and very hard on the knees. We had expected rain, but again our tramping life, at least weatherwise, seemed charmed, and last night it began raining hard after we'd bedded down in the hut, and quit at 8 am. It cleared off and was a brilliant day; in fact only our boots got soaked as we walked through shining rain-drenched meadow grass, following the Caples River down the valley. We just managed to catch the 2 pm shuttle bus to Kinloch Lodge--our Valentine's Day splurge and also our shuttle to the beginning of the Routeburn track, which we will begin tomorrow morning. What a lovely spot! Kinloch is very near the location used for Isengard in Lord of the Rings.

P.S. Jim reports he sighted a New Zealand falcon today.

Mary Ellen

From Sidney--
I've really realized how important it is to me that people keep up with the blog. It really makes me feel like people are paying attention, especially when they post comments. Thanks everyone!

On another note, I saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets today. That's the fourth Harry Potter film we've seen in New Zealand, so all we have to do now is watch number five. We also saw The Golden Compass here; it's great to have finally seen this movie (they don't show it in Sylva because of supposedly atheist content).

So that's really all I need to say right now; bye!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202755020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202755020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202755020/tpod.html Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:38:04 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Te Anau, New Zealand

Whew! After finally getting off the Kepler Track, we are now in Te Anau library, typing this blog entry for all our friends to see. The Kepler was really great because we upgraded the final campsite to a hut, and we didn't have to carry our tents (we left them in Te Anau). The most exciting point of this tramp was the second day, where we battled 80 KPH winds (about 48 MPH) to cross Forest Burn saddle. After that, the trip was a bit of an anticlimax, although we discussed topics including races from Lord of the Rings, the Eee PC (an ultra-cheap laptop), and ways of making US$1000 (this means a thousand US dollars). Thanks to Dave Perrin for the election infromation, and keep sending it, Dave! There's not really much to be said (by me) after all this, so I'll turn it over to Mom.
Sidney


As Sidney mentioned, our tramp on the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park took us high over the fiords of Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri. Day 2 was definitley the most spectacular and exciting for all of us--4 hours above tree line, walking along the narrow spine of an alpine saddle. Although there was cloud cover, it was high enough so we could see the tops of all the surrounding peaks, and we summitted one, Mt. Luxmore. The last hours of that day dropped sharply through a green, green hanging valley thick with ferns, beech, and moss.

Since this was our first tramp staying in huts, and since we didn't carry tents or sleeping pads, our packs were relatively light. New Zealanders typically use the huts instead of tents; it's a different experience than camping out--a little like being in a tour group with no leader or schedule, just with everyone having the same itinerary. The first night there were 60 trampers in the hut; not one empty bunk. All around us there was scenery that could have been a set for the Lord of the Rings, but on our fourth and last day of the tramp, we actually did pass the location where, in the film, Frodo and friends were sent on in boats by the elves down a broad, swift, and flat river--a lovely spot.

It truly IS a small world--on the tramp we ran into a recent Dartmouth grad who knew several NOC instructors. And for my family in Vermont, if you run into Theodore or Andrea Ambrose, please tell them we ran into their daughter Alex in the motor camp before we left. She was on an extended visit to NZ, travelling, climbing, and camping with a friend.

We leave tomorrow morning for a day of kayaking on Milford Sound, followed by two tramps back to back--the Caples Track and the Routeburn Track.

Happy Birthday on February 11 to Suzanne Vincent!

Mary Ellen

P.S. We are coming to really like Te Anau, and it worked its way deeper into our hearts last night when we settled into big cushy seats at the local cinema, which, except for Sunday nights, shows a NZ nature documentary almost continuously. Last night it was The Golden Compass, which we had all read and had wanted to see (but it didn't come to Sylva!). The movie was so-so, but we loved it anyway. It's hard to beat a theater where your popcorn is served in a large ceramic bowl. Perfect.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202012040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202012040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1202012040/tpod.html Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:19:56 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Fox Glacier, New Zealand

Hi everyone,
Since our last blog entry, we've been touring the glacier and driving. I'll tell about the glacier first. We went on "Fox" Glacier. The main reason we did this was that it sounded better then "Franz Josef". Also, it's less commercialized. Anyway, it was very fun. We walked through the rain forest before actually exploring the glacier. Next, our guide cut steps in the ice for us as we walked about with crampons. There were plenty of photo ops. We also were treated to a short explanation of how glaciers work.

Also, we saw a brochure for the "Shotover Canyon Swing", the highest in the world. It looked really scary! For details, see www.canyonswing.co.nz. Anyway, that's about it! Now to my parents...

Sidney


After a beautiful ride to Greymouth we picked up our Rent-A-Dent, and our perspective changed once again when we got our own wheels. We stopped that night in a large motorcamp and decided we like the smaller, shabby-looking ones best; the people are the friendliest there. Next day we stopped in Hokitika, known for its New Zealand Jade carvings and jewelry sales. By evening we arrived at Fox Glacier.

We had a reservation for a glacier walk, which I'd heard about from Aurelia Kennedy. New Zealand is one of only two places in the world where a glacier flows directly into a rain forest--the other is in Patagonia. As Sidney mentioned, we hiked for an hour or more through the forest before we reached the glacier, and then donned crampons and picked up alpenstocks for our walk on the ice. It was one of the most interesting and exciting things we've done, and definitely worth the cost of the tour. We had a great guide. Some facts: it takes some 100 years for snow falling high in the neve (where it collects to "load" the glacier) to reach the terminal face (what you see when you're standing below it). And Fox Glacier is actually advancing, unlike in the 70s, when it was receding. Over the last 10 years, the temperature has dropped slightly at the glacier. When we were walking around on top of it, we were standing on 450 feet of ice.

In the evening we went for a walk outside the Fox Glacier village to see glow worms--a big attraction. It's like fairy land after dark in the forest--you can see them everywhere in dark damp holes under banks and tree trunks. They're actually the larvae stage of a flying insect whose adult life lasts only a few days, and the larvae stage is 9 months. It's the kind of thing Disney would have a field day with, but is much much better in real life.

We've been enjoying the media coverage of the US elections--the newspapers do a very good job of explaining the electoral process here in the states and the implications of different wins and losses, along with background on the candidates. Most of the coverage comes from the west coast--LA, typically, although there has been some contribution from the Washington Post. The NZ press does not seem to like Clinton much ("Hillary" here refers to the late Sir Ed), because they keep running the most unflattering pictures! We have heard from Dave Perrin that Clinton beat Obama in FL, but that hasn't hit the papers here yet. The Kiwis seem rather amused by it all, and Sidney is very impressed with how knowledgable they are. We knew before we finished the Heaphy Track which Democrat had won SC, because there was a hiker at an overlook with a paper, and the front page of the World section blasted the news in big letters.

Happy belated 70th birthday to Jerry Baumgartner.

Mary Ellen


Today we said goodby to the west coast and hopefully its famed wet weather for a while. What a change it is to leave the heavily forested rainforest and trade it in for arid grassland with remarkable mountain views. I use the word "remarkable" for that is the name of the mountain range around Queenstown and Wanaka, "the Remarkables." It is classic Lord of the Rings territory with stunning views in all directions of two to three thousand meter peaks. It is also interesting to see how things have changed since I was here almost twenty years ago. Much of the road we traveled today was a dusty dirt and gravel road when I first road my bike down it years ago. Also, we must have passed fifty cyclists in the last several days. I don't remember seeing more than ten in a month on the first trip and none of them wore helmets (including me!) back then.

Back to the glaciers. What a cool place to go. (pardon my pun.) For me, after spending so many years in the guiding business, it is always hard to fork over the cash for a guided anything. My hat goes off to the Fox Glacier Guides. They did an outstanding job getting a large number of people onto a limited amount of glacier space without us getting the feeling of bumping into other groups at every turn. The glacier itself was very impressive and makes me want to reread all the mountaineering adventure books I've ever read. I now know what an "icefall" really looks like and what it feels like to look up at the "seraks" (not sure how to spell that one).

Tomorrow we're going to take a quick cruise through Queenstown which is the Gatlinburg of adreniline sports for NZ and probably the world. If you can dream up some crazy thing to give you a rush, they've probably been doing it in Queenstown for a decade already. We'll pass on the parachute bungy jump, the canyon swing (that's on a 200 meter rope), and the numerous other wacky things, but it is a beautiful town and one not to pass completely by. Then we're off to Te Anau where we'll get set for our next tramping adventures and probably where you'll hear from us again. -- jp
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201679160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201679160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201679160/tpod.html Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:01:02 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Karamea, New Zealand

We've just finished up a rest day at Karamea, just outside of Kahurangi National Park--staying in a tiny, funky bunkhouse in a tiny town that's the jumping off point for the Park. It's been blissfully quiet. This is the equivalent of a motorcamp, which is where we stay in most towns we visit. Usually we set up our tent, but this bunkhouse was so cheap (about $8 US for a mattress, showers, and use of a great kitchen) that we couldn't resist--and for all day yesterday and most of today we've had it to ourselves. It also has a TV, and Sidney had a television fest, watching two Harry Potter movies back to back before he came up for air.

So, with clean clothes and rested feet, we're off tomorrow for Westport, where we'll hire a car and begin a week of west coast touring before we do two more tramps. Here we are in the middle of dairy cattle country--75 dairy farms in the region, we are told, with a huge instant milk-processing plant. We also understand NZ is becoming more bovine- and less sheep-oriented, although there are still plenty of sheep to be seen.

Happy Birthday, Dave Perrin!

Mary Ellen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201656240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201656240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nz2008/n_z_tramps_2008/1201656240/tpod.html Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:37:08 -0500 Exploring New Zealand's South Island (Mostly) On Foot

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Karamea, New Zealand

After five days and nights camping on the Heaphy Track in Kahurangi National Park, all we can say is WOW--what a beautiful and varied landscape. We covered 82 km (50 mi), climbed to 950 meters, and crossed from the east to the rugged west coast, ending at the beach on the Tasman Sea. Much of the forest we passed through early on could have been in the Smokies if you replaced some of the plants with rhododendron; lots of springs, creeks, dripping moss, and rooty track, although the track itself was much better maintained than in our national park. Those of a certain age will recall a particular children's picture book read regularly on Captain Kangaroo which tells the story of a camel who takes a walk through a jungle and the potential chain of events involving other forest creatures that in the end does not happen. I never learned the title or the author of that book, but I was continually reminded of its illustrations on the second half of our tramp. NZ has one distinctive native species of palm that forms a cathedral-like canopy in the bush. And then there were the Downs--miles of red-brown tussock and tannin stained creeks. Steve Longenecker, our raptor expert friend, would be interested in the plight of the NZ falcon, now endangered because of the declining bird population, which is being decimated by stoats (much like weasels, introduced to control the rabbit population), and possoms (not like ours; introduced in the late 1800s for the fur trade). Falcons now have little to eat. The Department of Conservation, affectionately known as "DOC" here, has instituted a program for poisoning both these mammals: they drop poisons for possoms from helicopters, and they have stoat traps baited with eggs and meat at what seems like 100 meter intervals on the track.

One of the pleasures of this tramp was meeting Ian (78) and Stan (80), two retired NZ school principals from the North Island, both doing the Heaphy for the first time, who inspired and educated us the entire way with bits of NZ history and info on Maori culture and language. Our tarp again saved us, as we cooked and ate our second evening meal in a deluge which lasted hours. For the most part, though, the weather was fine. We are truly happy campers.

Mary Ellen

Sidney's Take-- As Mom said, the Heaphy was great. We watched birds, enjoyed Dr. Seuss- like "Truffula trees" that actually resembled them, and got bitten by THE SANDFLIES!! They're a voracious lot, and I now look like I have chicken pox. Now we're relaxing, and eating (as we fantasized on the trail) greasy chips (fries), biscuits (cookies), and Ice Cream. Sadly, no strawberry ripple. We had been speculating on the elections, and now that we know that Obama won SC by a landslide, beating Hillary 2-1, we think things are looking brighter. Yeah, I do pay attention to politics. Anyway, that's about all from overseas. Now to Dad...

82k. 5 days. Sunshine, warm, cold, sandflies, gorgeous views, rain, sore feet, tired legs, icy baths. Rain forests, river crossings on wire bridges, attacks by ferocious oyster catchers, attacks by more ferocious sandflies. Mountain crossings, pounding surf, crazy bird songs. Two old men who weren't old at all. Germans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, dishonest Californians and us.--jp
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