We've been delinquent bloggers, (sorry about that), so this is a fairly long post. Might be best to get a snack or a cup of tea or something before reading on ...
When we signed off our last posts, we were heading south from Golden Bay to the glaciers on the west coast of the South Island, and beyond. I mentioned a little back injury that had occurred the day before, and prevented further climbing in Golden Bay. However, as often happens, things got worse before they got better.
Last Monday, Adam and I drove from Golden Bay through to Westland (unsurprisingly, on the west coast) and stopped overnight in Punakaiki (also known as Pancake Rocks), which is nothing more than a campground, a few hostels and a pub surrounding some oddly shaped rock-formations created by the pounding of the surf on soft limestone for millions of years. It's worth getting out of the car for 10 minutes, but not much more. Unfortunately, the long drive was tough for me, and I was in a fair bit of pain when we arrived and didn't want to drive any farther. I was only comfortable lying down, so we soon went to bed. On Tuesday morning, after I got up, I was in excruiciating pain. There are no facilities in Punakaiki though, so we had to continue driving down the coast. We stopped in Franz Joseph Glacier village, another tourist-driven outpost, but one with plenty of accomodation and a health clinic. To make a long story short, we stayed two days in Franz Joseph in a very nice hostel but didn't do much of anything at all. We were fairly gloomy, pondering how badly I was injured and how much of the rest of the trip it would put in jeopardy. I got in to see a nurse about a day and a half later. She was excellent, confirmed that it was just muscle pain and nothing more serious, and basically told me to 'walk it off'. Not only did she strongly discourage further rest, (I needed to stretch and strengthen the muscles, she said) but also did not give me any good painkillers. The nurse encouraged us to move on to Queenstown as soon as possible so that I could get further examination and treatment. I had a massage later that day, which helped enormously, and Linda (with the magic fingers) explained that prescribing drugs just isn't the kiwi way. She said that if you left a clinic or hospital with a prescription, you knew you were really sick or ill, as they are relied upon only as a last resort.
If I might digress a second, while I understand this approach to antibiotics and perhaps some other drugs, what harm would there have been in giving me a few days supply of good narcotics to ease my pain? I was in excruciating pain, from a temporary, unserious injury. I fail to see the downside to making me a bit more comfortable, particularly as the nurse, the massage therapist and eventually the physiotherpist all discouraged rest? The nurse did give me some ibuprofen, but I fortunately had slight stronger painkillers in the first aid kit, that I brought for just such an occasion. I wanted more (to replenish my depleting supply) and stronger ones, but that was not to be. Lesson to self: Bring lots of prescription painkillers when travelling, you never know when you might need them and whether you'll be able to get them when you want them!
Back to the story ... on Wednesday, we did go for a few short walks around Franz Joseph Glacier, as encouraged, but the weather was nasty (we got hailed on!) and the visibly was awful, so we couldn't even get much of a view of the eponymous glacier. On Thursday, we drove from Franz Joseph Glacier to Queenstown, which took all day because we stopped every 30 km or so to check out the various viewpoints and to let me stretch. The weather that morning finally broke, and we went back to the Franz Joseph glacier viewpoint before driving onwards, and Adam finally got to see the mountains that had been hiding behind clouds for more than 2 days. Down the road in nearby Fox Glacier township, we drove out to a panaramic viewpoint that provided some of the best views of the Southern Alps that we've had, then did the short Lake Matheson walk. The lake is famous for providing reflections of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in its waters, but it wasn't calm enough nor clear enough when we went. The day remained sunny, but clouds were once again hiding the mountains by noon. The drive from Fox Glacier through Haast, Haast Pass, and on to Wanaka was spectacular -- there was an ocean view or mountain vista to stop and admire almost every 5 minutes. Although I was still uncomfortable sitting, it has been once of my favourite drives in NZ, and I strongly recommend it.
We arrived in Queenstown last Thursday evening, and I feel like Adam and I have been here for a very, very long time. It's only been a week and a half, but this is the longest we've been in any once place, and I'm starting to get anxious for something new. The weather has been nice, but not quite warm enough for my liking. We've been here so long for a few reasons: I've been going to physio every few days, which is certainly helping; Adam is climbing with Sally & Aaron Ford, which is fabulous since I'm not 100% yet; and we've used Queenstown as a base and done several side trips to Milford Sound in Fiordland and to Wanaka (more below).
Last Friday, I had my first physiotherapy appointment and we got our first real diagnosis/assessment of my injury. Turns out that I may have excruciating back pain, but I didn't injure my back ... When I fell on my ass on the trail, the muscle swelled, putting pressure on my sciatic nerve, which in turn sent sharp pain down through my hip and leg and up and across my back. The bad news was that this can be an excruciatingly painful injury (which I already knew). The good news is that it is not serious and generally clears up within 2 weeks, once swelling goes down and any muscle strain starts to heal. I was already starting to feel a little better everyday, and by the second week, I've been feeling quite a bit better everyday, especially after physio. We've had to adjust our schedule, not only to accomodate my limitations, but also my physio appointments which are in Queenstown, but it hasn't been as bad as I think either of us feared.
Last Saturday, Adam went climbing at Wye Creek just outside Queenstown with Sally & Aaron Ford, which was great. I went along for the views, as Wye Creek has a spectacular vantage point over Lake Wakatipu of Queenstown and the mountain ranges beyond. It was a great day, and I'm sure that Adam will post in detail about the great climbs he got to do.
Sunday, the weather was very good, and we spent the afternoon visiting wineries in the Gibbston Valley, tasting wine (including another pinot noir vertical that made Adam very happy), and eating fabulous food at one of those wineries on their sunny patio.
Speaking of food, if I might digress again, we've been enjoying ourselves while on vacation -- eating liberal portions, snacking constantly, sampling the wares of various high-end chocolatiers, and drinking copious amounts of the local aged grape juice -- and it has taken it's toll. A scale was recently brought out at Sally's house so that we could weigh the bag of climbing gear (because Emirates has raised their excess baggage fees), and we each made the mistake of getting on it. If extra kilos are any indication of a good vacation, Adam and I are having a fabulous time!
We then headed south from Queenstown, around to Te Anau into Fiordland, and back north to Milford Sound. Milford is actually a glacial fiord carved into the mountains, but was called a "sound" by European explorers who were unfamiliar with fiords. It's almost directly west of Queenstown, as the crow flies, but to get there you have to drive south, west and then north around the mountains. Milford Sound is sometimes criticized for being touristy, and certainly is a must-see for visitors to New Zealand, but it is still pretty remote and in the off-season, pretty desolate. We drove 100 km from Te Anu into Milford and saw only a handful of other cars. There is only one cafe in Milford and only one place to stay - Milford Lodge. The road ends at the boat terminal where tourists clamour aboard one of the many boats to cruise the fiord/sound. Adam and I weren't expecting much, beyond the infamous sandflies (which are really black flies) that swarm the area, but were surprised to find that Milford Lodge was one of the nicer campgrounds we stayed at. It poured (100-150mm / day) for the two days that we were in Milford Sound, but that also turned out to be a good thing. The rain keeps the sandflies down and also provides water for the spectacular waterfalls that come over the sides of the mountains into the fiords. We were warm and dry in the lodge lounge and the spaceship, and the next morning had a great, albeit damp, cruise around Milford Sound. Taking the first cruise of the day ensures that it's quiet, as non of the day-trippers from Te Anau or Queenstown have arrived. It didn't rain too hard in the morning either, and although we didn't have great views of the surrounding mountains, the fiord was 'moody' (as the locals say) and atmospheric. We saw a few fur seals, and best of all, we saw a fiordland crested penguin! These penguins are very rare and can't really be seen anywhere else in the world. Adam's favourite I think was the waterfalls. We took a small boat cruise, so the captain gets the bow of the boat right up underneath the falls. The water is being blown about by the wind, and looks like fireworks coming towards you. Definately cool.
On Wednesday, we then drove back from Milford Sound, through Queenstown, back to Wanaka, which is about an hour north of Queenstown. We drove past Wanaka on the way to Queenstown from the glaciers, but didn't stop because the main reasons for visiting Wanaka are climbing and tramping -- and I couldn't do either at the time. By Thursday, I was feeling okay to belay (but not climb myself), and Adam had a great day climbing at Hospital Flats on the Tombstone (especially 'Lung Starter', aka Huff and Puff, a 24) and out at Roadside Attration on 'Aretanaphobia' (21). The weather was clear and sunny in Wanaka on Friday, so we did a walk in Mt Aspiring National Park up Rob Roy Valley to a viewpoint of the Rob Roy Glacier. The views on the drive into the park are fabulous themselves, and it was a great walk. At the top, you can see the glacier overhanging the edge of the mountain. At this time of year, the ice is melting, and we were lucky enough to see two pieces break off the glacier and avalanche! (Safely on the other side of the valley, of course...) In the afternoon, Adam did some more climbing before the wind picked up and forced us inside.
Saturday was a rest day, and we drove back to Queenstown from Wanaka the long way, stopping in several wineries in Bannockburn on the way. The whole Central Otago region is famous for its pinot noir, and Adam really liked two of the wineries in particular (Bald Hills and Akarua), which make their wine more in the old-world Burgundian style than the fruit-driven style of many NZ pinots. We spent the afternoon in Queenstown sitting in the sun, drinking coffee, and eating chocolate. We made pizzas for dinner (thank goodness for GF crusts in grocery stores here) and drank a bottle of wine we had been saving from Marlborough. A good day.
Today, (Sunday), Adam is off climbing at Wye Creek again with Sally & Aaron Ford. I decided not to go with them, as I'm still not climbing, and Wye Creek is a bit of a hike just to go and belay (being a belay slave also gets a tad boring). Additionally, it's the first day in more than 7 or 8 weeks that Adam and I *haven't* spent together, and it's long overdue. We're both lovely people, but as I'm sure many of you are really to attest, each of us can get a tad annoying after long periods. Try 24/7 togetherness, jammed in a itty-bitty Spaceship, with no personal space ... for weeks. A day apart is lovely. We've adjusted to the Spaceship quite well, but I am looking forward to an entire hostel room (with bathroom!) once we get to Sydney. I am not looking forward to having to stuff all my things back into my backpack though. Everything has kind of oozed out into various nooks and cranies of the van after several weeks, and we've accumulated even more stuff.
But first, tomorrow after my last physio appointment, we drive to Dunedin on the east coast of the South Island. We'll spend a few days there and on the Otago pennisula hanging out with penguins (me) and bouldering (Adam). From there, it's north to Christchurch and Castle Hill (the bouldering mecca), which Adam has been looking forward to since .... probably since I've known him. Ironically, it will be one of our last stops in New Zealand.
Until next time,
Cheers!
Robin
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