Also From January 1, 2011

I typed this blog entry up earlier, but refused to publish it until Perin had posted her ideas/thoughts first. I didn't want to pollute her memories:) I like us each to have our own insights.... You may notice some variations in the story but will have to accept both as fact - subjective realities and all...

Oh, it's so weird to type 2011! That'll change soon enough though. Perin and I just finished tramping (NZ for hiking, but when you stay overnight in the bush (NZ for wilderness)) the Milford Track. It took four days although first day's hike only took about about 90 minutes.

We expected prodigious amounts of rain through the fiordlands and we got it. Our guide at the first hut was Ross and he gave a long and humorous lecture on the hut, the tramp, the wildlife, and himself. Ross informed us that the prodigious amounts of rain we were experiencing were merely showers, and we had no need to worry about fording giant rivers and fierce currents - at least on our second day.

We met a nice couple from England/Vietnam who were statisticians (and rather boring) and a Scottish couple of doctors traveling with a Kiwi couple of doctors. All of that Scottish pay went to funding international travel, so they were pretty fun. However, they refused to drink the whiskey I had humped through the bush for them- so they were suspicious:)

The second day through the rain was uphill and lightly strenuous. We got some great pictures of some waterfalls and the overall beauty of the walk - but we'll share those with you soon. The third day was the most strenuous of all: up over a mountain and back down again. The weather cleared up for the first time in six weeks and we got spectacular views everywhere.

However, both Perin and I were exhausted at the end of that day and even though we got sweet pictures, we went to bed pretty early.

On the last night, we finally met a group of outgoing Aussies. They were a family of four brothers - all under 26, with their WAGs/sisters. They were super competitive with each other and ran each section of the track to see who'd arrive first and/or who could walk the furthest on the rocky terrain while barefoot and wearing a huge pack. They were pretty fun, and they were down for some bourbon. Should have met them the first night!

We left some extra food behind because the Department of Conservation saves it up for when flooding is so high that people get stuck in that last last cabin for days with the river goes down.

From there we did a cruise on Doubtful Sound which was awesome. We had clear blue skies and the water was like glass everywhere. We met some Americans from New Mexico and they're totally into whitewater rafting and put in for river permits all over the American west and always need more rafters, so that was some spectacular networking. Their daughter might one day attend my whitewater alma mater. We'll keep in touch with them for sure.

And for coincidences, we met Ross's wife Carol on the cruise. She was the wildlife guide and did a spectacular job. We learned about their relationship together and how they both ended up with their dream jobs in semi-retirement. Definitely inspiring talking to both of them!