Yosemite National Park

 

Playing hide and seek with Alexa amongst the towering trees was quite fun. The weather was really fantastic too, it would be cool in the mornings and evenings but as soon as the sun would bathe the valley, the whole place would warm up quite quickly. It was the end of winter and snow could still be seen in patches here and there. There was a huge area with snow around the far end of the park closer to Half Dome and at times you would come across some ice on the tracks but other than that, it was all good!

Apparently the park was quite empty too... hard to believe when you see so many people filling up the cafeteria and the restaurant. You would encounter about 20 people on any given track on average and if this is the empty season, you can start to imagine what it's like during summer.

No bear encounters to worry about although they do stress out the point of not leaving anything in your car. Videos are shown all the time where bears completely destroy cars just to get an apple or even a piece of gum. Cars get totalled as if they were cans of soda pop.

 

Sun was setting when this picture was taken. You can start to see the sun's rays bouncing off the stone walls giving that orange tint to them. This particular water fall is the tallest in the US of A and apparently it's the fifth tallest in the world. Most of the mist that came of from the waterfall turned into snow and you can appreciate a big patch of snow before the waterfall continues it's path onto the lower part of the waterfall.

  

 

Mirror Lake can be seen in the picture above and you can see how it is still frozen. I didn't realize that we had already arrived to the lake because the water level was quite low. Once the snow and ice start melting and the waterfalls come back to life, the lake will rise once again and I'm sure it will be hard to miss. Still, it was a really nice place to be and just take in the scenery. So peaceful.

The lake is located at the bottom of the flat part of Half Dome. I only saw 3 climbers whilst we were there. One guy was just practicing bouldering and two other guys were packing their gear into their car. I assume that during the warmer months you can see climbers taking the walls.

Ooops! Somehow the roles were reversed here, I'm the one who's always taking pictures of Alexa and no one is taking picture of me. I guess it was bound to happen someday.

We'll definitely have to go back again at some point and visit all the other things that Yosemite has to offer. Traveling with my girl makes things much more memorable! ;)

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A few images that were taken during last year's summer while touring around the North Island. From Cape Reinga down to Wellington. The second picture was taken at Kerosene Creek near Taupo. Awesome trip!! Needless to say, the company was the best part of it all :)

A storm had just come through Wellington and another one was on its way. That weekend I had planned to go to the Wairarapa and visit one of its vineyards and enjoy a really nice lunch with Alexa. There seemed to be no point in venturing out and driving over the Rimutakas if the weather was going to be bad. You might as well stay closer to home and appreciate what you have in your backyard.

A drive around the bays is always a good drive and each and every one of them has its own appeal. Owhiro Bay, Island Bay, Lyall Bay, Scorching Bay, Evans Bay... drive to each one of them and have a little stroll, 10 to 15 minutes will be enough before you head on to the next one and you'll be surprised by the amount of things you'll see. Penguins, seals, dolphins, orcas and even the occasional sea leopard can be encountered. That day however, only the seagulls were out braving the weather, the Cook Strait had been roaring and was getting ready for another uproar. Amongst the shiny kelp that had been strewn across the stoney beach, the white plumage of the seagulls really made them stand out.

In the end, we spent around 4 hours gathering seashells and enjoying the views that were on offer. Maybe the lunch we had had not been as fancy as I had planned originally, maybe the weather hadn't been as great as expected, yet, those few hours had been spent in great company and with the discovery of little treasures in each seashell and views from the bays. Perfect way to end the weekend.

Spring Festival 2011

Our clocks have been move forward and the tulips have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, so I guess it's safe to say that Spring has finally arrived. This year's end of winter was pretty crazy, we saw snow in Wellington and not only around the tops of the hills, but even at sea level! The last time a thing like this happened was 50 years ago. Really looking forward to warmer and more stable seasons.

As usual, the Wellington Botanical Gardens have a variety of tulips on display to mark the arrival of spring.

Far North

Summer in NZ! It's hard to really celebrate Christmas when the weather is sunny and warm and you have those lazy long days that seem to never end. Everybody just heads down to the beach which generally is only a few minutes away, sets up camp and start firing up the BBQs. Even when the surf isn't just right, you can always take a dip and dry yourself in the sun. Here are just a few pictures from my trip up to the Far North. I tell ya, NZ summer is hard to beat.

Beautiful pink skies at sunset turn into violets and purple. A pod of dolphins were swimming just a few meters off the coast but wasn't able to photograph them. The first time I saw a postcard of New Zealand with pink skies, I thought it had been digitally altered. I thought it was a joke, a very bad one at that... the joke was on me when finally I saw how the colors transformed themselves at dusk, I was in awe.

Lush subtropical forests with pristine rivers and lakes are easy to be found. If only summer holidays could last longer...

 Tatooine? Not quite. No giant sand worms either.  Just the Sand Dunes up by Cape Reinga which is at the very top of the North Island. Dune surfing is quite popular up here even when you might get a mouthful of sand. Gritty!

Spring 2010

Perfect day

Aro Valley - Red Rocks... again

A few weeks ago Rachel and I walked up from Aro Valley down to Red Rocks. The track takes you to the Wind Turbine, to the Radar and then down to Red Rocks. On that occasion we walked for 9 hours and we were totally spent. It was a good way to start training for the tramping season. The walk is so enjoyable and the views you get from Wellington are so nice that I decided to do it once again.

This time I did the walk with a few new friends and since they haven't seen much of Wellington, I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to see the sights and stretch their legs. Nina, Alex and Caroline all come from the US and I think that what they saw today gives them a better appreciation for Wellington. Lein and Naomi also enjoyed the walk even though they're veteran Wellingtonians, hehhehe.

Morning dew

Labour Weekend

This Labour Weekend was a great way to start off the first tramp of the season. Rachel and I decided to go to the Wairarapa and do the Mt Holdsworth-Jumbo track in the Tararuas. We left Wellington on Friday night and set up camp around 9pm. The next morning we started our walk "sort of" early since we wanted to make sure we would get a bunk at Powell Hut. It gets really busy since it's a popular track. This was Rachel's first tramp as well so we just wanted to make sure she would have the best experience. Having to sleep under the tables or benches in a crowded hut will put off anybody if it's their first time.

When we got to the hut, we were basically the first to arrive so we had the chance to pick the best bunks in the place. The hut accommodates 30 people supposedly but I think the capacity is much smaller. At least it would seem that way when you get about 45 people all trying to spend the night there. It was packed!!

One of the good things about staying in a crowded hut, is that people start really early in order to get ready since the facilities have to be shared. Even though the hut is equipped with several cookers, you still need to wait your turn if you get up too late. So you get up at the crack of dawn and that's when you're able to see some spectacular sunrises (weather dependent of course).



After having a quick look in the Intentions Book, we saw that we weren't the only ones that were heading toward Jumbo Hut that day. There were at least 15 people heading in the same direction so once again we had to be quick in order to secure some bunks for the next night. Jumbo Hut has capacity for 20 people so we already knew that it was going to be crowded.

As we walked along the ridge, the wind started to pick up and the clouds started to roll in. Fortunately we were equipped for this kind of situation so we didn't have to worry about it, it just made the walk more interesting.






We finally arrived to Jumbo Hut after 3 hours of leaving Powel Hut, we had a nice long rest in the sun since the wind and cloud didn't descend past the peak of Mt Jumbo. It was really nice to have the whole hut to ourselves as well and be able to pick our bunks once again. Around midday, the rest of the trampers from Powel Hut made their appearance and that made us change our mind of staying there for the night.


We decided to press on and make our way back all the wat to the car park and set up the campsite. The day was so nice we just had to enjoy it to the fullest. Going back to Welly would've been a crime. The sun was up and there was just a small breeze to keep you cool. Rachel was able to score some cold beers from some fellow campers hahahha. We also found out that they organize a race each year which actually follows the route we did. The shortest time ever to do the 23km race is 2 hours and 16 minutes! Insane.