December 24 - Happy Holidays! We were fortunate to join Ann and Vic again! The four of us biked through the Central Otago region, lake to lake, along canals, up and over a couple of passes, and enjoyed New Zealand people and country! One of the pictures below show the route we took, beginning at Omarama, then Kurow, Lake Tekapo, Twizel, back to Omarama. On our way to meet them we stayed at Lake Tekapo and enjoyed the beauty of this glacier blue lake, walked to the Mt. John Observatory (cloudy, rainy so no stars for us that night!). We really enjoy staying at the "Holiday Parks" here in New Zealand! We have met so many travelers and we can camp or if not feeling that, can stay in little cabins. After the bike adventure we said goodbye to Anne and Vic and drove to Wanaka (close to Queenstown). Loved the cute, manicured resort town (reminiscent of Sun Valley!) Stayed in a "Top 10" Holiday Park, then went to the Mt. Aspiring trailhead and tramped to Rob Roy Glacier, then Mt. Aspiring Hut. The hut was under refurbishment for earthquake resilience, so we camped. Raining. We passed the endless night by huddling in our tent and reading Never by Ken Follett. Returned home via the Wild West COAST and stayed in Hokitika...(which is mentioned in The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead - great book!) Sunset at Sunset Point there, and 10 pm stroll through the Glow Worm Dell... great trip. Back now in Richmond and doing a lot of sea swims with our friends over the holidays. Cheers and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, cup of cheer, hello to all our friends and family!
December 5 - This week brought NEW adventures again! During the week Mark worked four days, then we participated in the Thursday night Rylock Sea Swim Series, race #3. It was an adventure! High tide, strong current, waves, and it took a wee bit of work to make it back to the start/finish! Friday morning we left early for the Cobb River Valley. It is over Takaka Hill, but instead of heading into Golden Bay, a sharp turn to the left lead us into the Kahurangi National Forest. It was a beautiful tramp, 12 km, to the "Fenella Hut." Fenella Druce was an outdoors woman and medical doctor, who along with three others and the hut, got blown off Mt. Cook to their demise in 1977. (Click here) Our first night we had the hut to ourselves! Saturday we took a long walk, past the swimming hole, then to the top of Mt Gibbs. After a fabulous view and a ridge walk, we made our way down to Lake Cobb, snoozed, then back up to the Fenella Hut. 7 others arrived for Saturday night and we had a lively time getting to know new people. We walked out Sunday morning, back to Richmond, and had our first barbecue outside with steaks and Caesar salad...We miss you all and treasure the zoom calls, WhatsApp chats, emails and snail mail! Happy holiday season to all!