Water skiing lake Karapiro

Since yesterday, we're house sitting a beautiful house in Cambridge for Harlands sisters friends. How lucky are we? Lucky also to be invited to go water skiing after a first birthday party this morning.

if you think I'm looking nervous, there;s a reason for thatthis happened only twice, not bad for a first timer. They boys were all impressed how quickly I got up. It's not that hard really...

beautiful lake Karapiro. and some lunatic.

Abel Tasman

Finally back in summer land and we're soaking up every second of it, it feels so good! Rented a kayak for the day and paddled around Abel Tasman for a bit, a good upper body work out but the focus was on soaking up the sun, relaxing, swimming and saying hello to the wildlife. Saw quite a few stingrays (yuck), a seal, shags and a few other interesting little things like starfish and massive mussels. An amazing day out on the water and the weather couldn't have been better if it had tried. Unfortunately we weren't the only people in paradise today but I'd rather share paradise with a few people than not see it at all. I had a moment of "this is too good to be true" when I was running into the water at full speed, feeling the warmth at the same time as taking in the beautiful surroundings. On of the best days.

ahoy matey!

even though it was busy we did what we always do and found a place to ourselves for lunch

and there was even time for this (posing that is)

Stewart Island- Rakiura- Pictures

Sorry for the delay, but here are but a few of the best photos of our xmas adventure on stewart island

Fred's Camp jetty, where we got dropped off by the water taxi.

A slice of paradise

setting off on the first day

heavy pack but good mood!

second day of hiking. hard work

nearly there

Doughboy bay beach, where we spent julafton

one of the absolute highlights, I feel so privileged to have seen one of these little buggers in the wild!

the infamous Stewart Island mud- this is what it was like most of the way


last day, so sore, so tired but nearly there

84 kilometres through HARD terrain



It was a long way to go for fish and chips really

Stewart Island- Rakiura

Very long account of our Xmas tramp. Read it all or just bits of it. Pics coming soon!

Day 1
We got the ferry over in the late morning and explored Oban for a bit before making our way over to Golden Bay where we'd set a date with Ian who would take us to Fred's Camp in his water taxi. we had the 10 bunk hut to ourselves that night, got some mussels in the afternoon and went fishing and exploring, got the fire going and made a cosy start to our visit.

Day 2 – First day of tramping. Fred's Camp to Rakeahua hut.
DoC estimate- 5 hours
Our walking time- 6 hrs
Distance- 12 km

Easy enough most of the way but the infamous Stewart Island mud and the heavy packs made it hard, especially towards the end. I was getting so tired towards the end (this tramping lark took some time getting used to) so the hut was a welcome sight and had a little potbelly which we lit to make it warm and snuggly. We were sharing the hut with an English guy who'd come from the other direction and he told us that the next leg was incredible challenging so I was a bit apprehensive when I went to bed...

Day 3 Rakeahua to Doughboy Bay Hut
DoC estimate time-7-8 hours
Our walking time- 7 hrs 10 min
Distance- 16 km

Such hard going at times but it made a difference that we were mentally prepared for it! Lots of ups and downs and a few steep bits but it was so rewarding stepping on to the beach after that grueling climb down. The view for the top had been amazing as it was a beautiful day. Felt really proud that we'd finished it and I didn't once think that I couldn't do it! Sharing the hut with four rough looking kiwi men in their 50's that soon turned out to be softer than butter on a hot day; all herbal tea, honey and kiwi spotting which we were welcome to join in on. Saw our first kiwi in the wild out on the beach, in the dark, busy little kiwi finding food in the sand. So cool!

Day 4- julafton- Rest day

We had planned to be sitting on the beach and swimming on our rest day but the weather had other plans for us. We went for a short walk in the morning but I was so exhausted i crashed and burned (unlike Harland who just went sliding down a slippery slope on his arse). The rest of the day consisted of keeping the fire going to dry out socks.

Day 5- Xmas Day- Doughboy By to Mason Bay Hut

DoC est time- 7hrs
Our walking time- 6 hrs
Distance- 18 km
This was really quite an easy day, partly because we were so mentally ready for it. There was a steep bit at the beginning which we blasted and before long we were at the beach. Then there was one and a half hour of walking on the beach against the wind which soon got very boring and felt never ending. There was a kiwi couple and a canadian girl as well as the Bubblegum Parade from Doughboy in the hut that night. We went kiwi spotting and saw one rummaging around the bushes. We made a crazy decision to do a double header the next day so we decided to get up early

Day 6 Mason Bay to Sawdust bay Campground

Had the best start to the day. A kiwi was out on the lawn in front of the hut was having its breakfast just as we were having ours. I watched it for ages. We decided to break this epic day in to smaller bits:

Leg 1 Mason Bay to Freshwater Hut
DoC est time- 3-4 hrs
Our time- 2.45
Distance- 15.5 km
The walk started off through old farmland where people from Shetland had come to farm but eventually gave up because of the rough conditions on the island (people from Shetland thought it was too rough, blimey!). The rest of the walk through the swamp was flat and rather boring and we decided to march at 500 mph. Got to Freshwater and had some soup and crackers just as it had started raining.

Leg 2 Freshwater to North Arm Hut
DoC est- 6-7 hrs
Our walking time- 6
Distance- 11 km
this bit would have been easy with fresh legs but I was struggling a bit. Luckily the rain subsided but it was still very muddy (again: Stewart island mud, ankle deep at best and that's after a dry week) at times especially up on Thompson ridge. Once we joined on to the Rakiura track (which is a so called Great Walk, which basically means it is easier and expensive) it got easy peasy, boardwalks all the way almost. My quad muscle was very sore after a hard day of stepping up and down steep muddy climbs. We finally got to the hut and had our dinner, talked to some very nice people and then moved on once our feet had dried out.

Leg 3 North Arm Hut to Sawdust Bay campsite
DoC est time- 1.30
My limping time- 1.10
Distance 2.5 km
I was tired and sore but we got there after having been on the go for about 13 hours. Felt good. When we were lying in the tent the last night (freezing our backsides off) I started thinking about going back to the mainland and I felt a sting of sadness.

Day 7

Walked the final 12 km back in to Oban got our well deserved fish and chips (LITERALLY the best fish and chips in the world, KAI KART, I mean it, blue cod straight off the local fishermen's boat in to the fryer, world famous for a reason). We had done it. 84.5 kilometres in 5 days of walking. Felt so proud. And smelly, well, what do you expect, we'd more or less been in the same clothes and not had a shower for nearly a week. We spent a few hours in Oban before getting on the ferry, relaxing in the sun and filling our tummies.

I was genuinely so, so sad that it was over. I couldn't have kept going due to being tired and sore but I didn't want it to end. It was such an amazing experience, one I'll never forget, we got to see so many remote, stunning places, places you can't drive to. (just the fact that we walked to the southernmost place we've ever been is something else. I don't know if it is tramping I've fallen in love with or if it is the place but I really didn't want it to be over. If my leg hadn't been buggered I would have probably chucked Harland over my shoulder and run back in to the bush again...

strange christmas

it'll be this year, not only will it be warm(ish), it'll be on the other side of the world. But just like the two previous years it's just the two of us and I'm hoping for a christmas with family next year, maybe in gotlaborg??? :) you don't know what you've got til it's gone and I think I'm due a family christmas in sweden .

The temeratures of the south island keep disappointing but in spite of that we're heading of on a 7-9 day hike (or "tramp" as we're in NZ) on Stewart Island (look it up on multimap, don't have time to link to it). We've been told by a lot of people that Stewart Island (Raikura) is a beautiful place, something extraordinary, secluded, off the beaten track, et.c. So we're very excited of course! And their is a rich birdlife as well, with the allusive Kiwi trotting around for all to see!:)

As always, very short of time on the computer (so forgive the spelling mistakes (DAD)) so before I get to soppy,

God Jul alla nara och kara. Hoppas ni far det riktigt fint!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

today...

we went up the mountain and came down safely again. It was hard work going up, scary and steep up top and hard work coming back down.

here are a couple of the little dudes that dropped in for a visit and a tug at our bags at the top of the mountain. (Kea-NZ mountain parrots)

Arthurs Ass

We are currently in Arthur's Pass village and tomorrow we will be doing a small hike up to Avalanche Peak (nice name, I know) approx 1850 m. It almost feels like we left summer behind on the north island because it is cold down here! Luckily we have invested in some merino wool clothes that will hopefully keep us warm on our excursions (haha mamma! om det ar nat du vill ha, understall t.ex sa kolla priser pa icebreaker eller sok pa merino woll nz).

We've been on the south island for five days now and so far we've been quite busy (so has the bank account) with wine touring on bike in Marlborough, whale watching at and a very spontaneous drive from the west coast through Lewis pass and now back again via Arthur's (P)ass. Truly stunning here with mountains, turquoise rivers that look very cold, and green, green hills, unfortunately the weather is what it is and it is green for a reason...

Looking forward to tomorrow and getting closer to the infamous kea, a bird that takes great interest in us humans and what we get up to, resulting in them nicking shiny things (cameras, jewellery or whatever they can get their cheeky little beaks on) left unattended and ripping rubber off cars. There are a lot of them here in the national park and apparently there's Kiwi about as well, maybe we'll be lucky enough to see one. We did see a weka the other day and my heart jumped thinking it was a kiwi...

My baby

First of all; we're mobile. cousine Colin lent us a blue betty (toyota corolla) to escort us around the counrty. What a hero. We took her over the Kaimai range to beautiful Mt Manganui a real surf dude place and hit the surf shops. Dreaming, at first, until Harly told me he had a surprise from him, dad and Sarah. A surfboard for christmas! For me! And in the interest of not wasting time we started looking straight away. I found my first love in a shop close to the beech, but it wouldn't have lasted. He was cheap and easy but it soon became obvious that I would have been bored with him after not too long. The second one I met actually turned out to be the One. It wasn't love at first sight but he's got soul (unlike the chinese made ones that were cool, but did nothing for me). He will teach me the surf nice and quick and keep me smiling for a long time.

Isn't he gorgeous:

Ben Nevis- The Hard Way

we were going up Ben Nevis but not the touristy way,

so we went off the beaten track

scrambling up steep slopes

the picture doesn't really show how steep it actually was

the picture doesen't show how knackered I really was when we got up to the ridge



we climbed up that (!)
The clouds cleared for a moment so we could be amazed at the view and see where we were going

we walked along the ridge, not at all as easy as it looks...
stumbled up to the top

and finally, a classic "camera at arms length" - photo

roadtrip!

Here are a but a few of the photos from our amazing 873mile (1405 km) roadtrip around the north of scotland. It was basically five days of driving, laughing and eating crisps.

Sinclair Castle

sign... what sign?

the two cousins that made this trip what it was

some disgusting irn bru action in a playground in Halkirk where we stopped for a picnic and hung our wet stuff out to dry. The poor unexpected residents didn't know what hit them... We spent half a day in Halkirk searching through a cemetery looking for non relatives:) hilarious..

I went snorkeling and got mussels. and very cold

the boys were fishy

I tried fishing but didn't catch anything. Did a good job not looking at the camera though....

the astonishing pass of the cattle, leaving the amazing Apllecross peninsula

and can I just say; this country is beautiful

we popped down to Cullen's loch today for some paddling around in Adrian's kayaks and we were practicing eskimo rolling (basically flicking yourself up from "hanging" upside down in the water) it was fun and H reckons I was really brave and confident considering I've never done it before and the lake was really murky :)

here's my first attempt ever at Eskimo rolling

if I would have known how close i was to getting up I would have tried harder but I wasn't meant to roll, just turn upside down and then get out. Harly was well impressed

Hampus forsta berg

I went to pick up mamma at the airport Friday afternoon and she had a surprise with her. One of my favorite people in this world. Nephew. Today he climbed his first mountain, with pride!!! Here are some snaps.

heroes