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Across the “Alps” and on to Christchurch
After a quick shopping spree at Hokitika’s premium merino-and-possum-wear shop we set out on our last car ride, this time time to Christchurch. We paralleled for a while next to the TraNZ Alpine train, a ride I’ve always wanted to take. We then stopped at an old stagecoach hotel stuffed with amusing curiosities. Any place…
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Lake Matheson, Fox Glacier and on to Hokitika
Unaware that today was out last day in FJ Glacier (see below), we made a leisurely start down to Fox Glacier where Lester and I stepped off for a hike around Lake Matheson (my third go round on this hike). Len turned back after a short stretch with a sore muscle. The Lake walk was…
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Franz Joseph Glacier and an Amazing Coincidence
Yesterday’s five hour drive from Queenstown to Franz Joseph Glacier yielded the usual quota of dramatic scenery. We stopped at the Hard Antler bar and grill for a slap-up lunch. I was tempted to ask for a pint pulled via antler horns but resisted. Franz Joseph Glacier is the hometown of Chris Monson, son Peter’s…
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Queenstown and Hiking Moki Lake
Woken by the gentle lowing of the neighboring cattle, we breakfasted, packed up and hit the road around 10:30 for the 2 hour drive up to Queenstown marveling as always at the roadside scenery. We cruised the Queenstown scene and settled in at the same quayside restaurant that the Kenways and the Champagnes frequented when…
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Manapouri Power Station, Manapouri Lake, Wilmot Pass and Doubtful Sound
Lester was itching for a hike so we dropped him off to do a portion of the Kepler Track while Leonard and I headed south to Manapouri for a trip to Doubtful Sound. This is a surf and turf and surf and turf and surf trip where you take a boat across Manapouri Lake, then…
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Milford Sound
The day opened with a steady rain giving way to clearing skies and a lovely rainbow. We packed lunches and headed north for Milford Sound for the day. Alison and I had been there twice before, the second time on an overnight sleep away boat with Steve and Leslie where we spent the night in…
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Return to Dunedin and Off to Te Anau
After 25 days at sea we sighted New Zealand yesterday afternoon and rounded Taiaroa Head, enjoying a warm evening topside on the Mawson’s Deck 8. Alison and Steve and Leslie Silk Champagne will recall Taiaroa Head as the location of an albatross spotting facility at the very end of the Otago Peninsula. As the ship…
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Embarkation on the Douglas Mawson
Today we boarded the MV Douglas Mawson, named after Australia’s most famous Antarctic explorer./ He claimed to have fallen into a crevasse and was dangling at the end of 14 feet of line and with frost bitten hands and with his skin peeling off in sheets, but went hand over frost bitten hand up the…
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On the High Seas with Cousin Lester
A few years ago I was hiking on the Eyebrow Trail on Old Speck, a 4,000 footer quite close to the New Hampster border. Near the top we had to ease our way along a thin traverse and then head up a steep pitch. Iron handholds had been sunk into the rock easing the way…
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And Now for some Real Photography
To the squawking of the Royal and King Penguins, we bid a fond farewell to Macquarie Island and started in on the last leg of our voyage. I passed up the last landing on Macquarie yesterday fearing that a rough pounding on rhe zodiac might trigger another sciatica session. Now looking at the next three…
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Kenway Goes South 