Overnight Cruise, Doubtful Sound

The photos don't capture the wild, isolation of this place. There are no roads beyond Deep Cove. Seven meters of rain a year is hard to imagine until you enter the cove. Every inch of the mountains is covered with vegetation or waterfalls, but there is no sediment. Soil just washes away. Huge trees cling with interlocking roots to the moss-covered, rocky cliffs. There are tree avalanches. If one tree loses its hold, a whole mountainside of intertwined trees can come crashing down into the water. We were fascinated. It was incomparable to any place.

I am not a fan of cruises and usually think that traveling with a big group of people on a small boat sounds claustrophobic, but this cruise was the perfect length and three generations of Kirkpatricks were entertained the whole time. The incredible scenery captivated us throughout the cruise. We started the afternoon with tea and big, homemade muffins. Doug, Liam and I went out for a kayak. Marcia, Don and Colin took a tender craft ride. After time in the water there was a late afternoon soup to help us warm up. The rest of the afternoon and evening the boys ran around on the decks, usually right out on the bow. When they were finally cold and windblown, they joined Grams for board games in the main cabin. Don chatted with the captain, swapping stories and discussing navigation instruments and technology. Marcia (a.k.a. Grams) made a new friend with a fellow passenger. The boat anchored in Crooked Arm for the night. There was a great dinner and slideshow. After tucking the boys and grandparents into their cabins, Doug and I snuck out for a little star gazing between the clouds. It was completely dark except for a single light from one other boat in the distance and even that light disappeared from time to time as the fog drifted across the arm. The darkness and the cold, wet night seem to send everyone else inside and we had the bow to ourselves for quite a while. It was romantic if you like light drizzle and wispy, spooky clouds like I do. The cabins were small but clean, cozy and quiet at night. We woke when the boat's engines kicked on. As we dressed and headed down to breakfast, we started our cruise homeward. The highlight of the morning was watching a pod of bottlenose dolphins splashing about in the early morning light. By lunchtime we were back in Manapouri, and I hadn't had time to feel trapped on a crowded boat.

Colin and Liam write

Today Colin and Liam had their first student/parent/teacher conferences for the first quarter of the school year at Queenstown Primary School. In their Learning Journals they both included pieces that they wrote this fall. Colin wrote about his Outdoor Education Week and Liam wrote about hiking the Lycian Way in Turkey on our trip through Europe. The Lycian Way hike appears to have been an important experience for Liam because he has written several pieces about it. Both boys enjoy writing, like their Uncle Matt and Grandy!


Outdoor Education Week, by Colin:




The Lycian Way, by Liam:




Vermin count update:
Mice: 16
Rats: 0
Possum: 5
Hedgehog: 1

p.s. Doug did a little research and found out that New Zealand has approximately 4 million people and is estimated to have at least 60 million possums. With these numbers each person needs to trap 15 possums to rid New Zealand of this invasive, forest-devouring pest. That means, to do our fair share, our family has 55 possums to go...

Happy 87th Birthday Great-Grandpa!

Dear Great-Grandpa,

We were so busy with Grams and Grandpop that our Birthday cards to you will be a wee bit late. Our cards are in the mail to you so you can keep them forever, but we wanted you to see them on your birthday so we posted them on the blog.

We hope you have an awesome birthday. We wish we were all together like in Las Vegas. We miss you!

Love,

Liam and Colin

Hike to Lake Sylvan

Our visit with the Grams and Grandpop was busy and we haven't had time to edit and upload many pictures. Now that the house is quiet (and a little lonely) without grandparents and with both boys back in school, we have some photos ready to share. Hopefully we will entice a few more friends and family to visit!

Out beyond Glenorchy, right near the Routeburn Track, we hiked through a beech forest to Lake Sylvan. The day was cool, but once we disappeared into the forest we were sheltered from the wind. After about 45 minutes of meandering through the dense moss covered trees and over a series of footbridges, we emerged from the forest onto a rock outcrop overlooking Lake Sylvan. The lake glistened in the midday sun, especially to our eyes adjusted to the dark forest. Layers of mountains in the distance faded from greens to blues.

I first drove out to Glenorchy August 2006 and immediately called Doug to tell him that I wanted to move to Glenorchy. Doug had learned not to get too excited, because I had called him almost every night of my reconnaissance trip to say I wanted to move to that night’s locale. However, I was truly taken with Glenorchy and, in the end, we moved just thirty minutes away. I now have a map of the area and am planning many more adventures into the wilds of this area.

Good-bye Grams and Grandpop

We said good-bye to Grams and Grandpop at the Queenstown Airport this afternoon. All of us were teary eyed and sad, but laughing hard as we sang


Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla bing bang
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla bing bang...

Grams taught this song to Colin and Liam. Now all of us have it stuck in our heads! Here's a version, in case you don't have this song stuck in your head yet.

As we get ready for bed, we are thinking of you, Grams and Grandpop. You should be in Auckland, getting on the flight to Los Angeles. Sleep tight and we'll talk to you on your Tuesday.

Lots of love,

Carolyn, Colin, Doug and Liam

Photo: overnight cruise on the Fiordland Navigator, Doubtful Sound, 25 April

Wakatipu Moonrise

photo by Doug, evening, 20 April

Matt - Way to go!

This weekend my baby bro, Matthew Parker Reed, receives his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Alaska Anchorage. We have yet to read his thesis and Matt, ever the modest guy, tells us nothing. Through his girlfriend Jamie and Mom, however, we keep reading the impressive comments by reviewers including the dean of the UAA graduate school and author Ron Carlson. Matthew also just received an award for the best thesis of the year.

We all worried, especially Mom, because Matthew didn't speak until he was two years old. He seems to have complete mastery of the English language now!

Today on the far side of the world, we celebrate your accomplishments Matt!

Much Love,

Carolyn, Colin, Doug and Liam

p.s. Message to Uncle Matt from Colin and Liam: The snow started this weekend, so get your skiing bum down here right now!