Boat ride to “lava tunnels” … Mostly not exactly tunnels but fragmented lava archways and formations.

We did some snorkelling in the lava formations, where a highlight was seeing seahorses. Then on the boat ride back to shore, we saw giant rays leaping out of the water and rolling on the surface, so we all leapt into our flippers and jumped off the boat to swim with them in the open water. I happened to be on the lucky side of our group, as only the guide and I actually saw a giant ray. I’m guessing it was 2 meters across. Absolutely amazing.

Then we had an organizational hiccup – the afternoon’s activity was supposed to be another boat ride and more snorkelling… But the boat operator goofed up and double-booked, leaving us in the lurch. Jorgen capably pivoted to Jeannie’s suggestion that we could bike to the “wall of tears”, a totally unnecessary rock wall made by inmates of a penal colony here between 1944-1959.

Tomorrow we’re leaving the hotel at 5:15am, so goodnight.

F

It smelled quite sulphur-ey and steamed quite enthusiastically, but didn’t make any audible noise. Thankfully the wind was blowing the steam away from our path – apparently when the wind changes and blows the other way, folks are not allowed to walk there because the gases can be poisonous. And nobody is allowed to go there without a local guide.

This has helped to preserve so much of the islands natural habitat and plethora of wildlife. Even with such strict rules however, our kayak guide yesterday, when I asked how long she’d been kayak guiding, and what have been the changes over that 11 years of experience, she said the biggest change is the declining numbers of penguins, due to habitat loss due to climate change. That’s a big sadness.

On the drive back, we stopped at a mirador where we could see Turtle Island (which we’d passed by on the sailboat day), widow rock (which was the namesake of one of the beers we’d had last night), and the great expanse of the Pacific ocean.

Then a free afternoon… Finally! Time for a nap… and a video chat with the folks back home, then a delightful supper out at a fancy local restaurant with Jeannie, Minnie and Gilbert.

Felicity

The afternoon’s activity was kayaking. Resulting from my paranoia about sunburn (I am a pasty pasty white canadian not used to equator-strength UV rays – I have reason for my paranoia!!), I wound up kayaking with sunscreen in my eyes. I do not recommend this. I cried my face off as we paddled by penguins, frigate birds, blue footed boobies and pelicans. After returning the kayaks and washing my eyes out with a hose, I still cried my way through snorkeling in lava crevices. We saw a tiger eel, eagle rays, a manta ray, more sharks, more oodles of bright coloured gorgeous fish, and sea lions and marine iguanas.

I forgot my socks at the snorkeling place, so I had an excuse for a nice solitary walk to see if I could retrieve them in the evening. I didn’t manage to find my socks, but I did find some locally made chocolate bars. Which, together with some eye drops from Jeannie, did the trick to cure my crying. Finally.

As our gang was on the way to supper, Jeannie and I were impressed by a beautiful yellow flowered vine on a storefront. It didn’t have much aroma though… And then as we hurried to catch up with our group, our hotel manager was having a laughing fit, and pointed out that those were fake flowers! No wonder they didn’t have any fragrance! How kind of us to give everyone a good chuckle. After supper we went for a local beer tasting and got a tour of the brewing room from the very enthusiastic owner/brewmaster. Vanderhoof, watch Jeannie and I are gettingideas! I really enjoyed the blonde and red ale, and surprisingly, also the passionfruit beer, as fruit beer is not usually my jam. Fresh water on the islands is not in great supply and the mineral content varies considerably between rainy and dry season, so this makes brewing extra complex. (On both Isabella and Santa Cruz island, the tap water is a little brackish… you feel slightly sticky after showering)

On the way back to the hotel, Jeannie and I sat in the back of the local church midnight mass for a few minutes.

F

On the 2.5 hr journey, we were on the lookout for creatures, and sure enough, some dolphins came over to check us out briefly, and we also passed a smallish sea turtle.

We then went for a wee zodiac jaunt looking for penguinos. Not finding any penguinos, we stopped at a beach to do some more snorkelling, and I had a go at diving down as deep as I could.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for finding a big yellow puffer fish and not mashing my head into a rock to get there… And when I came up for air Jeannie was right there saying ‘look out, look out, you almost ran into a penguin!’ In my desperation for air, I hadn’t noticed it swimming along the surface pretty much directly in front of me. The penguin didn’t seem to mind, though, and just carried on its way, doing its penguin thing.

We also saw a big white tip shark, and again, many colourful and diverse fish. (Including the one that looks like Dora from finding Nemo) There is a strict rule that humans must stay 2 meters away from all wildlife. But the animals don’t necessarily follow the rules, which is pretty amazing. Snorkelling finished, we got a hosedown on the deck of the ship – who needs a proper shower anyways? and then lunch: potatoes, rice, tuna steaks, broccoli, beans, and carrots. With exceptionally delicious fresh bell pepper slices as part of the side salad. Most of us napped on the way back.

F

Animals we saw: loads of fish. Bluefooted boobies,  massive sea turtles, white tip sharks, sea lions, marine iguanas, pelicans, sally lightfoot crabs, did I say loads of fish?, eels, and two octopus! While I was watching a school of tiny translucent wiggly fish wondering if they were the sort that you make whitebait from, I was startled to see a sea turtle directly underneath me. I’m guessing it was just a couple meters below, feeding on the greenery on the rocks. And it was about a meter long. The coolest part of snorkeling with sea turtles is that they have to come up to the surface for air, and so you get to see their weird reptile heads pop up out of the water which sort of proves to my totally blown mind that the things going on under the water really are… Real!

The boat had room for 10 punters, and the crew fed us lunch on board (rice, vegetables and chicken)

F

The daylight hours change very little when you’re this close to the equator. The difference between the longest and shortest day of the year is about sixteen minutes.

We started the day off with a ghastly 4:15am departure from the hotel. We met Minnie and Gilbert, our co-punters, who are from Philadelphia and Montreal but who live in Seattle now. We were all pretty groggy. It didn’t help our moods that there had been loud Christmas partying going on in the street and in the hotel overnight, including what I hope was fireworks. Anyhow. The plane stopped in Guayaquil – Ecuador’s largest coastal city – to drop off and pick up passengers, and then continued on to the Galapagos islands. It’s a 1hr and 45 minute flight to the islands from the mainland.

There was quite a bit of paperwork to fill out to confirm that no one was bringing in biological threats (ie insects, fruits, or seeds) to the islands and also swearing not to take stuff back illegally. Our bags were x-rayed both in Quito and at the terminal on Isla Baltra. We also learned that drug smuggling with submarines is a thing… load your sub with cocaine on the coast of central or South America, then head out to the Galapagos to refuel, and then make the journey up to the Canadian or American coast to deliver the goods. This information had me and Jeannie googling where one might buy a submarine and how much it would cost. Google has answers! If you’re much braver than us, it seems like a pretty viable racket! Between the Galapagos and the mainland there’s a long channel of marine reserve, to protect migratory species travelling along this marine highway – this is quite challenging to enforce, but is definitely an improvement over having a free-for-all. Apparently, in 2021, the Ecuadorian navy was running a training voyage on a three-masted sailing ship in the marine reserve, and although they were completely unarmed and unprepared for this, they found and apprehended a 3-man submarine laden with drugs!               

But anyways. That’s not really relevant to our travels…

Walking off the plane and into the passport control building, we saw 3 (maybe 4?) land iguanas. They’re only found on this tiny island in the archipelago, not on any of the larger islands. The biggest difference between land iguanas and marine iguanas is that land iguanas don’t swim. And they have cylindrical tails rather than flat tails. We then took a bus to the boat dock, where there were pelicans! And also brown terns sitting on the pelicans heads!

Tortoises are reptiles, and can live for a full year without water or food. Back in the day, folk travelling the high seas would stock up on tortoises not only as a great source of self-preserved/always-fresh meat, but also as a spill-proof stash of water. Kinda icky but kinda handy!

After lunch, we stopped in quickly to walk through a lava tunnel.

Also I cannot stress how fantastic it is to have someone else responsible for all the logistics. Jorgen has arranged all the transportation and guides and equipment and everything, and he talks to all the people who need to be talked to. I feel like quite the spoiled traveler.

Felicity

Arrived in Quito. With bike in box. Met Jorgen, our guide, an energetic and enthusiastic fella of Swedish origin who’s been living in Ecuador for the last 30 years. Met Jennie at the hotel – the very fancy hotel – ie stilettos were definitely more common than crocs or runners. We did some re-organizing of our luggage, admired and then ignored the huge hotel gym, and gave the hotel staff our extra bags (including my bike in its box) to keep safe until we return to the mainland.  We ate supper at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel. Jeannie had pork in a peanut sauce and I tried cuy (guinea pig – which was quite delicious rolled and breaded and fried. Both meals came with a cooked sweet potato medley, fresh vegetable salad, and a corn and potato mash – and were garnished with edible flowers and artful swishes of sauce. Unfortunately I was too hungry and forgot to take pictures.

We also learned that there will be two other people in our tour group for the Galapagos. Great!

Felicity

Feb 24-25, 2024: West Melton (near Christchurch) -> Auckland -> Victoria

Nick kept adding heat, and at some point Michael unhooked us from our tether.

It was a mix of incredible quiet and bursts of loud as Nick judiciously added heat. The air in the balloon cooled rapidly, so by adding heat or releasing it on one side or the other, Nick could adjust our altitude and rotate the balloon.

After ballooning, we trundled off to the airport and repacked our gear from Tightie Whitie into our own bags, and went our separate ways: Mum and Jessi to Queenstown for exploration further south where they will rejoin John and Sachi. Clare, Flis, and I to Auckland for the night.

We’d booked an ultra cheap “family room” with three beds and little else, so we spent the evening roaming around on foot. We found some zealous security at a waterfront bar, some Malaysian food for dinner, and a gelateria with SO MANY flavours (dill pickle? butter and sage?).

I also heard what sounded like live swing music, and sure enough I discovered a private swing dancing party, which we were sadly unprepared to join (all three in hiking boots, and my feet are still recovering from slicing and impaling them while trying to emulate the laid-back locals earlier this week).

I dithered (one of my best skills) about whether to come on this trip. It is expensive to take unpaid time off work, and this was certainly not budget travel. I was worried it would be frustrating and ineffective to make decisions about how to spend our time in such a large group, especially a group of adults who are all used to doing things our own ways.
It was absolutely worthwhile. Please remind future me, who wonders why I still can’t buy a place to live, that time and money are only resources. It’s what you do with them that makes for a rich life.
Besides, you might die soon. As John would say, YOLO!

I’m writing this from the plane, and although it’s sad to be at the end of such a big, exciting trip, I am also looking forward to seeing my cats, and sleeping in my own bed, and having a functional means of paying for stuff myself (credit card dysfunction is another good reason to travel with people you can pay back later).

Alice

Feb 23, 2024: Nelson Lakes -> West Melton (near Christchurch)

Today was a real test of Tightie Whitie, the rental Corolla.

…to Hokitika, where we collected mum and headed east through scenic Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch.

We made a few choice stops:

Hokitika for collecting mum and hanger prevention hand pies and ice cream on the beach.

Viaduct viewpoint, just before the summit of Arthur’s Pass (looking out at some impressive engineering) – a car pulled up and started honking. Who to our wondering eyes should step out, but John and Sachi!

Kura Tawhiti (Castle Hill) for a walking and scrambly exploration of the incredible rock formations (these are also limestone like the pancake rocks, but not the same layering).

We checked into our fabulous farmstead stay, which had much appreciated fresh fruit, as well as laundry, showers, and real beds. Hands-down our best accommodation of the trip. Too bad we are only staying one night and a short night at that.

Alice

Feb 20-22, 2024: Abel Tasman National Park

While hiking places like the North Coast or West Coast trails on Vancouver Island, I have often looked out at a beautifully calm ocean while clambering over yet another headland with a heavy pack and thought: wouldnt it be nice to have a boat? This would be so much easier in a kayak.
Well, today we had kayaks, and I looked forward to watching hikers struggle along the soft sand while I floated serenly past. To my surprise, that ocean that looked so beautifully calm from up on the headland is filled with rather large waves.  Easily the biggest waves I have kayaked in; some groups turned back, but not us.
I greatly appreciated the water being warm, both to make the consequences of a hypothetical capsize less dire, and I didn’t get cold when the occasional wave washed over the boat. Or when a couple of memorable ones washed over Alice in the front seat. 
The hiking boots on the nice sturdy headland were looking pretty good.
Fortunately, the surf on our campsite beach was small, we landed without incident and enjoyed the kind of dinner I would never carry in a pack.

This trip was a 2-night exploration of Abel Tasman National Park.

While we were stocking up on supplies, we were under the impression we’d be sending gear back with the kayaks. Only when we arrived to pack the kayaks did we find out that we’d need to hike with our camping gear for the second and third day. Aaaaaand the us that was packing the kayaks was far enough removed from future pack-carrying us that we still took a number of items I’d almost never take backpacking: a frying pan, a glass bottle of wine, and a french press for “plunger” coffee (as they call it here!), as well as whipping cream, potatoes, cider, and beer!

Our dinner menu included:

Smoked salmon chowder with cherry tomatoes with a side of pan-fried farmstead potatoes served with scrumpy dry cider.

Cowboy chilli fusion ramen with a side of fresh sautéed green beans served with Hawkes Bay syrah.

The section Cpt Clare was referring to is an exposed headland, locally called the “mad mile”. There was swell with a fair bit of (unforecast) wind, and we wanted to land on a moon-shaped beach 3/4 of the way along while staying out of range of the rebounding waves. It was more fun than it sounds, but yeeea – no photos from that stretch!

On the first night, somebody chewed into a dry bag of food. So, the next night, we hung our food in a tree like we’d do in BC. Somebody still managed to chew in. We were all pretty happy that we didn’t store the food in our tents as had been recommended!

We were able to paddle into lagoons around high tide.

Felicity discovered new talent coaching, commentating and judging our Olympic athletes in doubles aquarials.

The return water taxi trip offered many opportunities for watching people work. We and 4 others were picked us up first, and then 6 double kayaks stacked two deep crosswise across the back seats, and 2 guides. Then, another 2 doubles, and two more passengers. When we neared base, the watertaxi drove onto a waiting trailer and without stopping, the whole watertaxi with boats and all was taken back over the sandy flats by an amphibious tractor.

We made a stop for our first Real Fruit ice cream (fruit blended into ice cream), which was quite delightful.

Alice (with the usual editing and input from F)