Day Three - Liana and I tackle a mountain...

And we are off!

Before going to bed the night before Randall and I decided that we would split up for our big middle day. He plans to take the water taxi to Portage and spend the day kayaking with the kids. But Liana and I are on a mission to be able to say we've hike every step of the Queen Charlotte track.

So while everyone else is sleeping Liana and I get up with the dawn and start off. I think we are both a bit nervous for the day to come. 24 kilometers and several peaks over 400 meters. But it is a gloriously sunny day and we will get the steepest climb up out of Punga cove and onto the the Kenepuru saddle before the sun is too hot. And from there we hike up the ridge top above the Bay of Many Coves, the views should be unreal!

Liana and I make good time enjoying a sense of total freedom. Nothing like the wind in your hair and the sun at your back....


By the time we have climbed out of Punga Cove the morning mists have left the water and only linger in a few of the low lying valleys. The air is crisp, but with the hint of the afternoon heat to come. The vegetation today is a bit different from the two days prior. The old growth beech and lush fern forests are slowly replaced with more pine trees and scrubby, heartier plants. It takes us a good three hours to reach the Bay of Many Coves Shelter where we gladly rest our feet and enjoy a snack while taking in the spectacular views.

One of the things that always strikes me when you are out on the trail is the camaraderie that you feel with the other hikers. Maybe it's the naturalness of it, something that hearkens back to days when our distant ancestors were hunter gatherers.

The trail is fairly deserted, especially for the height of summer, but at the rest stop people tend to
naturally congregate and chat. There was a lovely family from Tauranga with four kids doing just as we were. They said the Queen Charlotte was nothing compared to the Annapurna circuit that they had done last year! Also there was a single mum from Sydney with her 13 year old son. And three Swedish people in their late seventies who were trekking full steam ahead! After they passed us on the trail for the second time Liana turns around with wide eyes. When I get old, I want to be like that, she says. Amen to that!

Looking across the Bay of Many Coves to Picton in the distance.

On the downhill!

The day was long, the hills were steep. The scenery was spectacular. By the second half of the trail we were well and truly on top of the ridge and could see all the way back to Picton and watch the inter-islander ferry's cruise by as well as a big cruise ship leaving port about midday. We stopped at the Black Rock Shelter for lunch and had a little siesta with the Weka birds circling and begging for food. We gobbled up every last vestige of our food before heading down off the ridge to the Torea Saddle (70 year old Swedish people gaining ground by the kilometer) and on to Peppers Portage on the Kenepuru Sound where we were greeted by a bunch of happy, sandy kayakers! Nothing like finishing a good days hike to the excited tune of "Mummy!!!!!" It's nice to be missed, even if I was only gone for eight hours.

Meanwhile..... daddy's little kayakers

The resort is fabulous And certainly knows how to treat glampers like us. Hot shower and a million dollar view out of the restaurant! And the dorm room that we stayed in had beds for six - four upstairs and one big one downstairs, just enough room for us. All the benefits of the hotel without the price!

Watching the sunset over the Kenepuru Sound a feeling of blessing and thankfulness for this beautiful world abound.

Goodnight from the Peppers Portage on the Queen Charlotte Track!

Queen Charlotte Track Day Two - Endeavor Inlet to Punga Cove

We awaken to find the sun has replaced the wind that howled all night and the track is beckoning us onward. The plan today will be to walk around the whole of Endeavor Inlet, about 12 kilometers, but without the steep hills of yesterday. And the beauty is, we have all day to do it.

Vine covered Rimu

And we are off!

With swim suits loaded into our packs we leave our bigger bags for the water taxi and hit the trail. The track winds around Endeavor inlet which, in addition to being home of native flora and fauna, has sheltered Maori, British settlers, mining industry and even boasted a small settlement over the years. Now it's mainly native bush and the occasional holiday home, accessed only by the sea.

Ticking down the km's

Maori people have lived in and around the Marlborough sounds for hundreds of years. The Queen Charlotte Sound was extremely important to them for it's kai moana (seafood), wood (Totara trees were favored for their waka) and of course trade routes. They called the sound Totaranui, or the big Totara, after the huge Totara Tree forests that grew here.

The morning walk was peaceful in the shade of the old trees, with plenty of Weka and Bell birds singing to us. Nature provides such an intense feeling of connectedness, especially when it has been left to itself for a long time.

But not all of the forests that we will hike through on the five day track will be the old growth. When the British settlers arrived in the late 1800's they logged many of the valleys here to make way for sheep and to provide wood for the buildings of the growing country. Luckily for the forest it has mostly been left to return to it's natural state and how quickly nature recovers when let alone!

When you are tired of walking you can always swing on the vines!

One of the things that I find a surprise bonus on the track is how much quality one on one time I am getting with each of the kids! How you may ask is this happening?
I think it's the rhythm of the trail. Randall usually leads up front and I play "sweeper" in the rear, making sure no one gets left behind. The kids all take turns running up ahead, or falling back behind with me, and with various pairing throughout the day. The most beautiful conversations spontaneously occurred. For example I got to hear all about the trials and tribulations of the social life of a seven year old girl. Learn about the latest "world" on Minecraft from Liam and what he most would like to have in a new school backpack. Liana's new found fashion ideas and concerns for her upcoming first year of high school. And had a hilarious conversation with Juliet about how one of the little girls at preschool keeps forgetting to wear undies. Oh dear.

They are just the natural kind of conversations that seem to get forgotten in our busy lives, or only half had because of all the other distractions. But here where we are all together sleeping in one room these little vignettes happen spontaneously. The bond of a family is inherently a deep one, and it is so relaxing to be here, in nature, walking and talking as we are meant to do naturally.

Kereru, Native Wood Pigeon

As the sun rose high in the afternoon so did the temperature. We had planned to take a little detour to check out the Antimony mines at the head of Endeavor Inlet, but decided to push on to get to a swimming hole and avoid the coming whine fest that comes with overheated children! (Antimony, if you are curios, is a metal that was once used to manufacture Pewter, ammunition and print type.)
Mining side trip aborted, we stopped for a late lunch and swim at Camp Bay. The water in the sounds comes in from the Cook Straight so it is quite a bit chillier than what we are used to up in the north island. But what the heck, after a long, hot hike it feels so darn nice.

In keeping with our glamping trip we rolled into our hotel at Punga Cove just in time for dinner. It's a lovely sheltered spot surrounded by huge tree ferns and views across the Endeavor Inlet to where we started this morning. We opted out of the fancy dinner restaurant and braved the sand flies to sit outside by the water.

What a lovely way to end the second day, sitting on the dock eating pizza and drinking wine with a dash of south island sandfly.

Punga Cove

Queen Charlotte Track - Glamping Day ONE!

Queen Charlotte Track - glamping day one

Water taxi's. Yes, that is the key to making the Queen Charlotte track into a "glamp" verses a "tramp".

We arrive at the dock at 9:30 with three suitcases and a set of backpacks, and cheerily wave goodbye to our suitcases. They will be waiting for us at our accommodation tonight. All we need is our lunch, water and camera. Sweet as!

The Queen Charlotte Track is one of New Zealand's famous hikes, stretching approximately 70 kilometers on the ridge tops and through the native bush of Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds. Many people mountain bike the trail in two days or hike it in three, but given our mandate of showing the kids just how fun tramping can be, we opted to break it up into five days - four shorter days with one big long day in the middle (with the littlest members of our trip taking the water taxi on the big day if needed).

As we cruise out of Picton and into the sound I have to say I'm feeling just a little nervous as this whole thing could turn to absolute custard if the whining hits critical mass, but so far everyone is in good spirits and are looking forward to the adventure. I issued each kid a goody bag that they get to self manage for the hike. Beef jerky, chips and a whole candy bar for each day of walking... not to mention the giant packed lunch. I figured that our family isn't that different from Napoleon's army, and when he advised that an army marches on it's stomach I am taking his advice.

Day one we plan to hike from Ship Cove to Endeavor Inlet which is approximately 14 kilometers.

heading ashore at Ship Cove

Our water taxi takes us deep into the Marlborough Sounds and about an hour or so out of Picton we finally arrive into the stunningly beautiful Ship Cove.

When Captain James Cook sailed into Ship Cove for the first time on the 15th of January 1770 he must have smiled. The protected sandy cove was the perfect place for him to set up a small settlement, plant gardens and give his men a break from the sea while they overhauled their ship. The settlement didn't last, but it's name remained and now a monument commemorating the good Captain stands at the start of the Queen Charlotte Trek.

And so we are off.

The trail is still muddy from last weeks rain, but our day is sparkling and sunny. And we make good time up the muddy clay track. Juliet insists on walking through the mud instead of around it as she keeps wanting to test out if her boots are truly waterproof. The boys are off, waiting for us at the top of the ridge. The forest is amazing, virgin beech forest rise out of the canyons sheltering us from the heat of the day and giving the native birds a habitat to carry on with their lives. The overwhelming buzzing of cicada's give way to the tinkling song of the bell bird and then back to cicada's.

School House Bay - no filter's needed to take beautiful photos here!!!

After our first big ascent we wound our way down to School House Bay - the perfect picnic spot where the kids swam and skipped stones. We don't have to be anywhere at any time so why rush when the idyll is so lovely?

Looking down on Endeavor Inlet

The second half of the day was steep and my legs were tired, but the kids rocked on. It seems that giving them very specific goals about how many kilometers they were going kept them focused occupied. Every time we saw a kilometer marker we took a picture. As we started at the end of the track the sign posts were counting down our kilometers. It seems a bit daunting when you've just come up a huge hill and then you see a sign that says you have 61 kilometers to go! But then Liam sprints past and it's on to the next hill and view!

Juliet makes friends with a Weka

It was early evening when we made our way into Endeavor Inlet and started seeing some settlements. Little baches and accommodations. We found the gate that led down to ours - Furneaux Lodge, a homestead from the early 1900's converted into a Lodge.

Suddenly the pleasurable aspects of glamping hit me again. Awaiting us is a lovely little bunk house, a long hot shower and a restaurant with fine food and wine.

Going to dinner at Furneux Lodge

That night the kids pretty much fell straight into bed without even the usual bickering over who gets what bed! We sat on our porch looking over the grounds of the old homestead-turned-lodge and listened to the raging winds in the trees above us on the track. With the music of nature in our heads we all slept very, very well, dreaming of blue water, ancient beech trees and bell birds.

South Island Here We Come!

And the travelin' family are on the move again!

It's summer holidays and our beautiful island nation is beckoning to be discovered! One of the things that New Zealand is most famous for is it's spectacular scenery and just how accessible it is for people like us to get out and explore it. So we have decided to try our hand at tramping with the kids and exploring the top and west of New Zealand's South Island.

When we first came up with the idea of taking the kids to experience New Zealand's great hiking tracks I think most of my friends thought it was nuts. Four kids hiking mountain trails and through bush and rain forest, I must agree that is sounds like the ultimate recipe for a whine-fest.... But I had a cunning plan up my sleeve.... instead of dropping them in the deep end of "tramping" (definition for you non kiwi's out there, being a multi day hiking or bush walking) we decided to introduce them to "glamping" on the world famous Queen Charlotte Track. (Definition: glamorous tramping.) Many weeks went into the planning to be sure we knew what we were getting into, and to get the kids really sold on the idea. We even had "practice tramps" up and around the Mount where we live.


So with hiking boots, camelbacks and loads of bug repellent we eagerly arrived into the little town of Picton at the top of the South Island. This cute little town has grown up as the port that the Cook Strait ferry docks into, you can drive onto the ferry in Wellington and in three hours drive off into the South Island. And many adventure seeking tourists take this route on their "100% Pure New Zealand" experience. (Trademark NZ government marketing campaign, cause let's be honest, New Zealand is not really all that clean and green, there just aren't as many people to pollute it!)

We are super lucky on the weather. It is a sparkling day and the forecast is looking good for the next three days, fingers crossed it stays that. Our camp ground is filled with RV's, cabins and tents with quite a range of different people - Kiwi, German, French and British -  couples and families alike all keen to see this beautiful land and enjoy the height of summer.

It's just an overnight stop for us though. Tomorrow we are catching the 9:30 am water taxi to the start of the trail. Not too early, all part of our "glamping" experience.

Hello River

It's hot. Oh boy is it hot.

Especially as we just came from the wintry southern hemisphere!

Today should reach the high 30's centigrade (100's f)

What to do?

White Water Rafting on the American River.... As you do...

The last time I went white water rafting I think I was about 15 and exploring Australia for the first time, and boy it was fun. This time it's me and Randall, Liana and Liam, my sister and hubby, my bestie Cathy and her boyfriend and other assortment of cousins and nephews....

We have enough for a few raft fulls just us! But many people are lined up for the river ride today. This is the thing to do on a hot summer Saturday! The river is dammed upstream and they let the water out at certain times of the day.... So we wait for the river and enjoy a picnic lunch. Pretty soon the rush and the roar of the river is clear and we are herded down to the awaiting rafts for a briefing. This is pretty standard stuff for our river guides. Randall and the kids get an old salt as a guide while I ended up in the boat with a guide who can't be too much older than Liana herself, but seems very confident....

Let's hope so, because I suddenly have one of my manic mummy moments and can just about see one of my precious children getting thrown from the raft and sucked into some underwater hole, held under by the swift current. Drowning. Oh god. What the heck is wrong with me? How about I put those thoughts aside and listen to the reasonable side of my brain. Which clearly states that a) thousands of people do this every day with no problem b) I've done it before and it's both fun and safe c) they wouldn't take this many tourists if it was in any way unsafe, after all this is America the land of the law suit ya know! and d) my kids are both level headed confident swimmers who are capable of taking care of themselves in the unlikely situation that they get thrown from a boat....

Ok, I really tried to listen. I decide that I need to just pretend I am that 15 year old person that didn't have fear and was interested in experiencing life, not being paralized with fear! Gosh, what happened to me? Do all parents have this transformation????

And so we push off.

It feels so good to be on the river.

It starts off so calmly, floating gently down the river, kind of like a ride in Disneyland! It's easy to admire the golden hills, the blue sky and the clear water. We are a bit baked by the sun and soon we hit a small rapid and the river guide tells us to jump in. So instead of white water rafting our first rapid, we end up white water floating it. All good. The river is freezing. The cold hits your bones!

Keeping us cool for the hours ahead of us.

We do hit bigger rapids. As the river meanders down, the valley gradually gets steeper and steeper, and the rapids get longer... Finally we hit the gorge and it's a series of grade 3 and 4 rapids which have us wet, screaming and laughing all at once! (The three hour build up to it made me forget the silly mummy that started out and allowed me to just relax and have fun, thank god!)

Five hours of wet and wild fun later we board a bus back to Coloma.

As we drag our sun burned selves back to the cabin we realize that someone has done a raid on Costco and that there is more food piled up at our house than can possibly be consumed in the next three days! But never the less. We try!

I don't get a shower till well after midnight that night. I was too busy eating, swapping stories with my family and challenging various cousins to Banangram tournaments. (An absolutely addictive game - something like scrabble, only better!)

But when I closed my eyes all I could see were rolling yellow hills and languid waters that started us off on our raft this morning.

Ah, nature. You can calm anything. Even a mum's loss of herself.

Coloma, Califonia - Family Reunion!

It's been years and years since my mom's side of the family were all together.

As children all of us cousins would have big gatherings over easter and fiercely compete over who was going to find the most Easter eggs. But then we all grew up and got busy with life. But now we are all in the parenthood phase of our lives and it seems only right that we have gravitated towards one another again. And it is so very natural that our kids should all laugh and play together, as we once did.

And so we headed east from the out skirts of San Francisco and through the wide, dry and hot Central Valley of California. Past Sacramento, the state's capital city, and up into the foothills of the mountains that rise up in the east. The foothills here are dusty and covered with oak trees. The rivers that run through it are filled with snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And once upon a time those rivers brought something else with them besides the all important ingredient of water... Gold...

But more on that interestingly shiny phenomenon later in the week. For now our family was happy to be transversing the Central Valley and finding our way to the small river resort of Coloma California. The town sits on the sight of the happy incident of the discovery of the first Gold Nugget. It's been deemed a historic site and is part of the national park system. Old remnants of the mill and miners equipment lie along the river, reminding us of the gold rush of 1849.....

My sister has been the instigator of this family reunion. And it was the perfect choice for our families all to come together in as we all share the summer memories of gold panning from our youths. I suppose it is natural when the generation before you passes on the balance of power shifts and a new shuffling comes about. My sister brings her quiet matriarchal mark to the family and if it weren't for her there wouldn't be 50 plus people coming from all over the United States to descend upon this sleepy little camp sight. Quite a feat really, especially when you think of the logistics of where everyone is coming from. Even though we get the award for longest distance traveled, a good many US states are represented: Utah, California, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, New York.... 

I have always envied families that live close together and enjoy Sunday roasts and can watch every soccer match and ballet show. But fate didn't give that to me, and I supose that is what I am creating in my own lovely little family unit. But then I supose the grass is always greener and for me the idea of coming together after so long apart has such a charge that it must come from my childhood. Look out if there are any Cadburry Chocolate eggs!

Once we cross over the American river via a narrow one laned cement bridge we find our campsite sitting right on the river. Sweet! We are booked into what I think is just a cabin, but in reality when we get there we find it is actually an old care-takers house - complete with air conditioning, full kitchen, two bedrooms and a huge living room and wrap around porch! We have just scored "the" place to be for the weekend. Enough room for everyone to squeeze in and jostle around in good humored comradery.

And no sooner had we dropped our bags than we hit the river and start finding the cousins.... There is something very special about blood links, and within oh, about 20 seconds everyone had found friends and were busy in their "getting to know you". Commence a black berry picking good time!

And so the family reunion begins.....

Arrival... Sensing California

The Sense of Feel must be one of the most overlooked senses we have. And when you travel it suddenly pops out into the foreground of your consciousness.

If you think about it you'll agree - every place has a different feel. And you can't just say the sensation is wholly in the temperature! The tropics in summer are not just hot, they are humidly hot and clammy and you feel like you are enveloped in a soup of thick fragrant air. And the mountains in winter are not just cold, they are a unique crispy cold, with the dry tanginess of snow. Each and every place, has it's own distinctive "feel" to it.

And that is what I was pondering in the airport terminal after finally arriving in San Francisco airport. As you do while waiting in the interminable line through customs!

That and how the air at the airport always has the same, mechanically sterile feel, complementing the grainy exhausted feel of your body that comes from an all night flight.... 

But once you step outside SFO the first hints of the cold San Francisco Bay air hits you, mingled with the hot dry inland hills. Both marine and dessert at the same time. Ah, coastal California, how I have missed you!

We are planning to spend the first two nights of our California trek with our friends who live in Danville (east of San Fran) so in due course we rent our car and start the drive. The kids are exhausted, and half fall asleep and the other half bicker during the car ride. Standard stuff for long haul travel with kids, it's not for the faint of heart, that is for sure. We drive the hour and a half through the ticky tack housing complexes, seemingly endless shopping malls and up through the rolling yellow hills that, despite the ever expanding population of the Bay Area, are still dotted with oak trees.

Our friends have a lovely house in a gated community and we arrive just as the temperature is hitting the high 30's Centegrade. The dry, oven like air is a fire blast when we open the car doors and a reminder of the scorching interior of the Central Valley of California. It's not long before we find our way to the pool to cool off. The lovely cool water cleaning off the grime of the travel from the last 24 hours. 

We end up staying up well into the night BBQing with friends that Randall has only ever told me about. I feel a bit drunk with lack of sleep so that I wonder what my first impression was, but then I was too tired to care. And it's good to have faces to names and feel the connection to our California community. 

The next day I embarrassed myself by sleeping until 10 - leaving the four kids to our amazing hostess to entertain - although my hubby took the cake by sleeping until well after 11! 

Ah, jet lag, it's a wonderful thing. It left us a little time short for the big tour that we were planning on, but in the end we took a nice car tour, not into San Francisco itself, but up to the north of the Bay, to Muir Woods, a place near and dear to my heart and a place that the kids will love!

Muir Woods, a place that I have some of my earliest memories of. My dad just loved this place and always brought us here when he was in the Bay Area on business. I couldn't help but think about all the times my dad told me stories about these legendary trees. 

The giant redwoods of California! While these may not be the largest of their species - the very far north of California has that honor - they are, perhaps, the most accessible specimens of Giant Redwoods. Just think, trees that have been living here for a thousand years, or more!

Muir Woods was designated as a national park in 1908 and was dedicated to one of the world's first conservationists, Mr John Muir. A man who I may never have met, but who was my absolute hero for most of my childhood.... but more about him later in our trip when we go to Yosemite. 

Muir Woods is a humbling place. The trees are so big and so old. 

With all the technology and amazingness of humanity we tend to get caught up in our own importance, so it's refreshing to find yourself humbled by something much older and larger than yourself. I don't think anyone will dispute the fact that trees are alive, and that they have been standing in this sheltered valley since the time of Christ (and before!) gives a good perspective on life itself. Maybe we aren't the bees knees of all species, just because we are the most successful at the moment! Maybe we should keep the earth with a little more respect. 

I think back to the days as a little girl walking through theses woods with my dad, the most non religious of persons, in the traditional sense. But I will never, ever forget the time he stopped me and told me to look up. Just look up. Doesn't god live here? In this most beautiful of places. Look up and believe that there is a beauty to this world that will always keep you believing in a higher power. Whether it is a god, a spirit, a force of nature, or simply that some place like this exists. All you need to do is look up at the trees and you will feel connection.

Muir Woods is a natural cathedral. 

I love sharing this place with my family and friends. It reminds me of my dad and my spiritual connection to this world.

And after the stale air of the airplane walking for hours in the cool and moist shade of the trees reinvigorates all of our senses.

We finished our day by driving through the touristy town of Sausalito, and then over the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. It's certainly one of the worlds most recognizable sights and the kids were pretty thrilled to see it. But we were tired and the full effect of the bridge was not really consumed. 

We ate mexican for dinner, and fell into bed, happy with our outings and full stomachs. 

In some way for both myself and Randall this feeling will alway bring a part of home to our hearts. Whether it is the magical mix of salt, desert and fog, or the taste of the mexican spices mixed with fake culture, it's the place that started us on the journey of who we are. And for me it means a lot to show the kids a bit about it so that they can piece together who, what and where their parents came from....

 "This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world." John Muir about the newly designated Muir Woods in 1908