After the franz joseph the plan was to make it up to the north end of the south island and do the Abel Tasman, which is a hike along the coast line, another out and back. After much research and price analysis we decided we wanted to kayak out and hike back. Then after further research into the weather we decided to scrap the whole thing and head to the north island where the weather system was hitting a little less.
We stopped at Tongariro National Park along the way but once again the weather sent us packing with overcast clouds preventing any chance of a view. So on to lake Waikaremoana in hopes of renting a canoe, cuz it's easier than hiking, and well were just lazy. The local canoe renter's last known address was in this small town beside a small lake just beside Waikaremoana.
The lake was infested with black swans.
After interrogating half the townspeople and staking out the canoe renter's house we finally found her. We succeeded in pretending to be nice people and she gave us the rental severly below cost and we were off. Unfortunately when making our decision to canoe based on laziness we forgot to account for wind and the resulting waves. Also, this lake had an adorable little habit of twisting the wind around corners to give us a headwind in every direction.
We finally got to the bay with the hut we were looking for. Some sub-par map reading on my part had us scouring the wrong hillside looking for the hut for about an hour. At one point, Paul even asked what that building was across the bay. I replied that it must be someone's private cottage, who chose metal siding for some reason. Much later, wetter and with slight bitterness we determined this was the hut we were looking for. Once again, the Department of Conservation had outdone themselves.
Day 2. Instead of packing up and moving on to the next hut as intended, our drained motivation led us to opt out for a day paddle out and back to some waterfalls.
Coming around a corner we encountered more wind reminiscent of the previous day. Needless to say we turned back.
Here's paul washing his hair. We like rough it, but not with dirty hair.
A break in the rain and wind in the afternoon prompted a round of frolf.
Here's my drive over the water hazard on the 8th hole. My throw made a characteristic slice hard to the right, sending it deep into the feskew and never to be found.
later on paul took a paddle up the adjacent creek. this gave us a nice 20 minutes apart. I missed him.
Full moon.
Paul playing with the settings on his camera. These candles burned for an amazingly long time, some say they could last 8 whole nights... but probly not.
Away from the DVD player of the van we needed something else to pass the time in the evenings. Paul taught me canasta. We took on Agnes and Ethel for the New Zealand championship.
Day 3: Paul went for a day hike, I entertained myself in the hut as cabin fever slowly set in. Paul experimenting with the camera.
The hut from afar.
Day 4. It was time to make our way out. Because I feel the need to caption every picture - this is swan.
We camped by the lake in the van again that night, with intentions of hiking that bluff in the background for a view over the lake.
oh yeah, sometime around franz joseph the sliding door on the van stopped opening from the inside. Seeing as the lock of that handle had had mechanical problems, we assumed the handle had just crapped out. However the door could still be opened from the outside. You figuring this one out yet? I hope so, but if not, we didn't either. After struggling a few times with reaching an arm out the passenger door to grab the outside handle, paul decided to tackle this problem. He ended up constructing this fine little mechanism (seen below) allowing us to pull the rope inside the van, thus releasing the handle on the outside.
We used this until we returned the van. Upon informing the rental guy of the mechanical error with the door, he went to inspect. Turns out the child lock was on. Waterloo Engineering: complex solutions to simple problems.
View of the lake that night.
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