Australia - Part 1 - Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail

We started off our Australia adventure with five days backpacking 66 kilometers along the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.  The trail is only a couple of years old, and has great campgrounds.  We had both the trail and campgrounds to ourselves (except for the last night, when one guy that skipped the previous campground joined us).  We also had beautiful weather and lots of wildlife encounters.

Excited backpackers at the start of the hiking!

Skip stared Alex down, and didn't want to move off the trail

One of several goannas that scared us on the trail - each was 4-5 feet long

Goanna posing for a selfie

Alex leading the way out

Echidnas are like porcupines, except they are amazing

Giant Bull Ant, one of the largest ant species anywhere

Gazing out to Antarctica

Katie wondering if she could make a break back to the car

Somebody left a stuffed animal in the tree

The soft sand turned out to be one of the most difficult stretches of the trail

Australian Crimson Rosella

Trudging across Tatooine

I walked through a spider web across the trail, and this guy landed on my face

Alex and Katie about to be swallowed by a stone wave

I tried climbing the splitter crack...unsuccessfully

Katie trapped in the trash compactor

The Remarkable Rocks

Now they tell us!

Kangaroo Island hooligans

Day three...we had to leave Katie behind

The Southern Ocean

Local resident posing

"We have to go all the way over there?!?"

Amazing turquoise surf

A very unique river crossing

How not to do it

It was worth making the trip just to see these guys

The Kangaroo Island outback

Creepy white ibis gazing over out campsite

Amazing looking Eucalyptus trees

Katie unaware of the impending doom behind her

We found Tigger!

The ibis represents judgement for the dead

I have no idea what it is, but it's big and it's creepy

Not a kangaroo...a wallaby

The Australian Scarlet Robin

This kangaroo thinks he's invisible in the bush

Amazing fact:  Koalas sleep more than Katie does

Admirals Arch

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse, which was inaccessible from land for many years

Happiness is hiking without a pack

Kelly Hill Caves at the end of the Wilderness Trail are remarkable in the concentration of straws and stalactites

Too many pictures of koalas, but they are that cute!

Survivors!

Sunset from the mainland towards Kangaroo Island

New Zealand - Part 4 - Mount Cook and Christchurch

Ahuriri River Valley

Halfway between Wanaka and Twizel is another breathtaking valley.  The Ahuriri River is a famous trout fishing river (I've come to learn that means rivers where I don't catch any fish).

A side waterway of the Ahuriri reflecting the Huxley Range

This counts as a serious picture for Katie

The Badlands down under

Katie the criminal strikes again

Mackenzie Region

Early Autumn begins in March

The brilliant blue water of Lake Ruataniwha

Sunrise over Lake Pukaki

I couldn't decide which sunrise picture to keep, and after getting up early for the shot, I kept both

Mount Cook

At 12,220 feet, Mount Cook wouldn't be high in other ranges, but it is formidable, rising over 10,000 feet from the valley below.

It's easy to see why Hillary used Mount Cook to train for the first ascent of Everest

The Mueller Glacier from the Hooker Valley

Five sides, six faces, seven main ridges, and no easy way up

Katie wishing she was skiing instead of hiking

Last day in the mountains of New Zealand

Clouds falling over the backside of the Southern Alps, like the foehn (or föhn) in the European Alps

Icebergs on Hooker Lake

It's hard to see scale..these seracs are actually the size of buildings

This New Zealand fantail was more curious about us than we were about him

Climbing Sebastapol Bluffs with Guide Katie

Katie was my guide for the day.  She led both pitches of the Red Arete on Sebastapol Bluffs.  She belayed me up each pitch, set up each rappel, and rapped first to deal with ropes and find the next rap station (four rappels on a single rope).

Guide Katie at work

Rock & Ice cover shot

In Kiwi lingo, guiding is "easy as"

Akaroa

Our last stop before leaving New Zealand was to swim with Hector's dolphins in Akaroa.

World's smallest species of penguin, the little blue penguin

The world's smallest species of dolphin, Hector's dolphin

There was quite a swell once we left the protection of the Akaroa crater bay

Keri pointed out that it felt less like swimming and more like bobbing around like bait

And we're off to Oz...

It's bittersweet to leave New Zealand, especially at the start of the Autumn magic season.  We'll be back!