dragonsblog

The ice on Lake Michigan is quite picturesque now, so I thought I would post a couple images before it all goes away. These are from this past weekend.

There are ducks somewhere out there in this one:

I enjoy seeing the people of the city out in the parks, especially at the lakefront. I like the way they use it for recreation and socializing like it's their back yard. In addition to the bird watchers this past weekend, I saw people walking on the beach, including one guy walking by himself who asked me to take a picture with his camera of him with the lake and skyline in the background because he thought it was such a lovely view.

And people sledding on the tobogganing hill, which doubles as the kite-flying hill in the summer.

They really looked like they were having a blast, even though there wasn't much snow left on the hill.

There was a family--two parents and their son--building a snowman, and of course lots of people walking their dogs.

There were even quite a few ice fishermen left out on Montrose Harbor, making the most of their temporary access to the weedbeds around the docks.

Of course there were people jogging, sitting on benches chatting, kids chasing birds and playing in the snow, etc. The lakefront trail was even free of snow and ice, so it won't be long before the lakefront is mobbed with people again, and I can get back out on my bike!

The temperature was just above freezing yesterday so I went for a hike at Montrose Beach. I walked through the nature preserve there and noticed a lady with a telescope on a tripod on the breakwater that protects the east end of the beach. I asked her what she was looking at and she said "ducks" as she peered out over the frozen lake.

I couldn't see anything out there, but when I looked hard enough, I did see a few black specks out quite a ways, at the limit of my visual acuity. She let me look through her telescope, and sure enough, there were mergansers, goldeneyes, buffleheads, and (of course) gulls out there! She was trying to find a long-tailed duck, somewhat of a rarity, I guess.

It was refreshing to see someone out enjoying the wildlife in the city, on a day that many might not have thought of going down to the lakefront, but which was really quite nice. It was overcast but calm, and in Chicago we'll take calm over sun anyday, I think. Today was even nicer, so I went back down there and sure enough, more bird watchers peering out across the ice!

They were in pursuit of the elusive long-tailed duck as well, having heard that someone had spotted one there the day before. Hard to believe those guys are heading north again already!

As I walked around Montrose Harbor I was treated to this view.

Two swans had flown in and were preening themselves by the entrance to the harbor, with the city skyline behind them far to the south. How nice!

Well, we're getting use out of our all-wheel-drive this winter. There are only a few days a year that it's useful, but then it sure is nice to have! I love just pulling out of my parking space on the street, letting the wheels claw through the snow and throwing it all over, while other people have to shovel away the snow around their cars to get out.

I don't know how much the official amount is here, but it was enough for people to get their snow blowers out 2 or 3 times in the last 2 days. Somehow I got away with not shoveling any of it except what was on my car. It was a fluffy snow here due to the effect of Lake Michigan, and was quite lovely. Today it was cold and sunny with little wind so we could enjoy it, and tonight the almost-full moon is giving the city an extra glow and sparkle.

Claudia and I had a great time in Waverly and Waterloo this past weekend. We enjoyed the hospitality of Sherry and Fred's cozy riverside retreat, and had fun hanging out with Hiltje, John and the girls.


Aja was showing off her classy new glasses when we were hanging out with her and John.


Then Hiltje and Marissa got back from Marissa's birthday trip to the Iowa Hawkeye basketball game in Iowa City, sporting their new matching bracelets and other Hawkeye wear. Marissa couldn't even talk she was so hoarse from screaming. From all indications they both had a good time.



Aja and Dane played some duets on the piano--she's a fast learner! Marissa showed off her skills at the piano the next day.

This is my last panorama from New Zealand that was not taken while on our safari. All three posted here are from our third day in New Zealand, December 17, 2004.(Click on the image to view a larger version. Use your browser's back button to return here.)

Although the focus of our trip was the south end of South Island where the most dramatic scenery is, we had decided to add a couple days to the trip just to get a taste of North Island. It didn't give us time to do much, but we were able to enjoy visiting the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua (more on that later) and take a brief hike in Tangariro National Park.

Tangariro is in the central highlands of North Island and is home to the imposing cones of three active volcanoes. This is the area of the country in which the scenes were filmed for Mordor in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, home of the evil Sauron. We wanted to take at least a brief hike through "Mordor" even though the weather was rainy and overcast and we couldn't really see much of the three volcanoes.

So we drove about 7 kilometers up a gravel road to the Tangariro Crossing Trail and hiked up the trail through the mists towards the Tangariro caldera. This was the wet side of the mountains so definitely not a barren volcanic landscape, but instead filled with a wide palette of colors of plants, lichens and mosses. At points there were little spatter cones, active vents coming through the ground, and beautiful little waterfalls in the stream along the trail. The trail was well groomed, though not always so flat and wide as shows in the panorama. Despite the marginal weather, we really enjoyed the hike.

The snow was all gone this morning due to the persistent deluge of rain over the past two days. Now it's snowing again. The temperature is dropping all day today from an early morning high of about 40ºF to a low tonight below 10ºF. The good news is that at that temperature, it's too cold for there to be any significant moisture in the air, so this weekend will be clear and sunny!

Speaking of clear and sunny, here's another panorama that is not.(Click on the image to view a larger version. Use your browser's back button to return here.)

This is from an overlook on the road southwest from Turangi, at the south end of Lake Taupo, looking north (towards the sun, believe it or not). This was taken not long after the one in the previous post as we drove south towards Wellington. This road leads over these hills into Tangariro National Park where the volcanoes are. Though not a very exciting view, the evidence of vulcanism is clear.

I've been posting panoramic photos from our hiking safari in New Zealand on the blog I created for it. So I thought I would post a panorama or 2 here from the trip before we started the safari.
(Click on the image to view a larger version. Use your browser's back button to return here.)

This is the view from the eastern shore of Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake. It is located in the middle of North Island, north of the volcanoes of Tangariro National Park and in the midst of the thermal areas extending south from Rotorua.

The weather was not great but pretty much dry that day, as we sped south from Rotorua to Wellington. Claudia can be seen in the picture picking up rocks to take back to her students. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of carrying rocks around for 2+ weeks and then all the way back to Illinois, but then she showed me how light they all were--pumice!

I'm still amazed that I could spend 2-1/2+ weeks of being outdoors in a strange, damp land with weird flora blooming all around me, expose myself to close confinement with masses of other people for the equivalent of more than 2 solid days, eat a different diet, shift my body clock, sleep on the ground and/or in close proximity to several other people, not bathe for days in a row, stress my body with unusual exercise, get drenched in the rain in 40º weather, wear t-shirts on windy mountain ridges with wind chills in the 30º's (guessing), etc, etc, and not suffer any problems with my digestive system, skin (other than sunburn), or sinuses and have no sleeping problems. Go figure. I used about one kleenex every 2 days.

Why now when I come home to my regular routine, sleeping in my own bed and back to my regular diet, do I suffer from digestive, sinus, skin and sleep problems? You don't have to respond to that--it's kind of a rhetorical question--I think I know the answer...

This morning I saw a guy driving a pick-up truck with a blade on it down the sidewalk of Broadway Street to clear the snow off of it. That's a first for me. The pedestrians did oblige him and get out of the way as he continued across the street in the crosswalk and down the next block.

We've had our first major snowfall of the winter here in Chicago, a good 6-8 inches over the last day. It's quite lovely but messy, and will be more messy as the temperatures climb into the 50's over the next few days. It's not quite the same as the alpine snow we encountered in New Zealand which fed beautiful clear mountain streams and waterfalls as it melted. *Sigh*

I created a new weblog specifically for our tramping safari in New Zealand, so others who were on the safari can participate. It is (tentatively) called A Tramping Christmas 2004 and is, at least initially, where we will post our images and content about that portion of the trip. Dragonsblog may suffer because of it for a while, but I will put posts here about the portions of our trip when we weren't on the safari. As always, feel free to add your contents, and if you want to join the blog to add your own posts, just let me know.

We survived the long flights home, including two sunsets (both on New Year's Eve), and enjoyed our second New Year's celebration at home at midnight Central Standard Time. Thankfully we've had a couple days to rest and recover and start dealing with our post-vacation depression.

Claudia emailed our some comments on my last written post in New Zealand. In case you didn't get her email, here it is:

Here is the latest post from Dane's blog. My comments are in CAPITALS. Miss you all. See you soon.
cg

Dane Vierow wrote:Date:
Tue, 28 Dec 2004 15:54:58 -0600From: "Dane Vierow"
To:Subject: We did it!

We survived the Hiking New Zealand Christmas Secret South Safari! And it went extraordinarily well for us!

Following my last post, we went to Lake Ohau and hiked up to a campsite near the bushline along Freehold Creek in the rain. I WAS A WHIMP SHIVERING WHILE DANE PUT UP THE TENT. WE ATE DINNER--PASTA ALFREDO-UNDER A TARP AND DRANK WATER RIGHT OUT OF THE STREAM--CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?? JUST LIKE WHEN YOU WERE A KID, DAD. We got wet and cold, but slept comfortably and dry and woke to a gorgeous, cool day the following day. We had a fantastic hike up to 2 separate saddles in the basin above Freehold Creek, going as high as 1800 meters, with beautiful views of several mountain ranges and Lake Ohau below. WE CLIMBED UP THROUGH SNOW-- UP AND DOWN A BIT--I SLID DOWN 2 OR 3 TIMES--DANE AND REGAN, OUR GUIDE, TOLD ME TO REALLY PUSH MY FEET INTO THE SNOW--IT WAS JUST PRETTY SOFT--KIND OF THE CONSISTANCY OF A SLURPEE. WE GOT UP TO ENJOY GORGEOUS VIEWS, HIKED DOWN A BIT MORE A WOLFED DOWN OUR SANDWICHES OF VOGEL BREAD, CHEESE, CHEESE, TUNA WITH CHILIES--I NEED TO FIND THIS STUFF AT HOME-SAUSAGE AND BISCUITS--WHAT THEY CALL COOKIES HERE. I'VE BEEN EATING LIKE A RAVENOUS PIG. ON THE WAY DOWN, I SLIPPED ON A SLIPPERY ROCK AND SNAPPED MY NECK. IT DIDN'T REALLY HURT UNTIL WE WERE DESCENDING MT SOMERS 2 DAYS LATER. IT'S FINE NOW. I DID HURT MY HAND. I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE MORE OF A PROBLEM, BUT SOME ADVIL AND A FEW DAYS HAVE TAKEN CARE OF IT. AFTER THE FALL, THE HIKE BACK TO THE SKI LODGE WAS FINE. WE SAW THE SKELETON OF AN UNKNOWN FISH. JENNY AND I THOUGHT IT WAS AN EEL. Then we hiked all the way back down to the Glen Mary Ski Club lodge for a Christmas Eve barbeque feast that three of our group had stayed behind to help prepare. WINE, BEER, VENISON SAUSAGE, CHICKEN, REAL NEW ZEALAND BACON, MUSHROOMS, SALAD, AND ANOTHER NEW ZEALAND TREAT--PAVLOVA--FOR DESSERT. PAVLOVA IS LAYERS OF BISCUIT BETWEEN WHICH IS WHIPPED CREAM AND ON TOP IS KIWI FRUIT AND STRAWBERRIES. AFTER DRINKING WINE FOR HOURS AS WE WERE WAITING FOR DINNER, I WENT TO SLEEP EARLY. DANE PLAYED CARDS ("SHITHEAD, SCHIETZKOPF, STROMKOP") UNTIL PAST MIDNIGHT WITH THE HARDCORE PARTIERS--REGAN (CHRISTCHURCH-NZ), JENNY(STRATFORD-UK), ANNA (GERM), AND VERA (FINLAND). That evening and the breakfast feast (JENNY AND REGAN MADE PANCAKES, SAUSAGE, BACON. WE HAD CHAMPAGNE AND ORANGE JUICE--OPENED SECRET SANTA GIFTS) on Christmas morning were the highlights of the trip for us as Christmas became not so much a time away from home and family, but a special time together with new friends in a wonderful place.

Christmas day was full of unexpected sunshine for a hike near Mount Cook that offered us rare views of Aoraki, the Mount Sefton Icefall and Hooker Glacier. The hike, though not long, had a 500 meter rise in 500 meters of horizontal distance. We crowned our accomplishment with some leftover champagne at the top of the hike, the Sealy Tarns.

Christmas night we camped along the shore of the south end of Lake Pukaki and the clear skies remained for an amazing sunset with views of the Ben Ohau range, Mount Cook and an almost full moon rising to the east. We took a "refreshing" dip in the lake (60 deg F), and enjoyed a moonlight walk viewing southern constellations including the Southern Cross.

The following day we drove to the foothills above the town of Mount Somers as the morning clouds burned off for another unexpectedly sunny day. (I TRIED CALLING DAD FROM A SMALL DOWN WHERE WE STOPPED FOR GROCERIES--GERALDINE, I THINK. I MIXED UP THE TIME. I THOUGHT DAD WOULD HAVE BEEN HOME, BUT HE WAS PROBABLY AT CHRIS'. SORRY, I MISSED YOU GUYS!!. We packed up and started our 2-night tramp into the back country along the Mount Somers Sub-Alpine Track, spending the first night in an historic old sheep musterer's hut along Woolshed Creek. We also took another "refreshing" dip in a creek nearby filled with waterfalls, but ran out of energy to go into the sauna as the cold wind gusts got stronger and battered our little shed. We enjoyed a warm fire inside and some friendly games of cards.

The group opted not to do the cold and wet water caves side trip despite the advice of our guide, and opted instead to try a more challenging summit attempt on Mount Somers itself. It was "a bit of a grunt" as our guide put it, but entirely worth it for the amazing views all around at the top as the weather remained perfectly clear for another day. I can't believe how fortunate we were to have such fabulous weather right when we needed it! To the west we could see several ranges including the picturesque Arrowhead Range and even to Mount Cook beyond it! To the east we could easily see all the way across the plains of Canterbury to the ocean, the Banks Peninsula, and Christchurch, where our safari would end. I SAW A LOT OF LIZARDS AS WE CLIMBED DOWN THE DESERTY SIDES OF THE SIDE TRIP TO THE SUMMIT. THEY MUST BE MY SPIRIT ANIMAL FOR THIS TRIP. I SWEAR IT'S MY LIZARD EARRINGS THAT KEPT THE HIGH PRESSURE ZONE OVER
US!

That night we hiked back down into the bush on the other side of Mount Somers for a stay in a large hut with other trampers. (THE TRIP TO THE HUT WAS REALLY HARD FOR ME. I FELL DOWN WITH MY BIG PACK. FLORENCE, A WOMAN FROM FRANCE, SHOWED ME HOW TO MAKE MONSTER STEPS SO THAT I WOULDN'T FALL DOWN THE SLOPE. SHE SAID THAT THE REASON WE LEARN THINGS IS TO TEACH THEM TO OTHERS. I LIKE THAT THOUGHT. SHE IS A VERY SPECIAL LADY. The last day of our safari we awoke to the sounds of cheeky Keas sqwauking and scratching around on the roof of the shed. Several people had missing socks and holes in their boots that they left out on the porch. We hiked out to our van and finally got our boots wet in a couple of shallow river crossings, then drove in to Christchurch to get cleaned up and top it off with going out for drinks and dinner as a group. THE NIGHT IN THE HUT WAS MORE LIKE A NIGHTMARE--A LOUD FLIRTY FAKE ACCENTED 16 YEAR GIRL ASKING ABOUT ANOTHER YOUNG HIKER'S PERSONAL MARITAL HISTORY--SHE WASN'T IN OUR GROUP--AND ANOTHER MEMBER OF OUR GROUP SNORING LIKE A BUZZ SAW. I FELL ASLEEP AT ABOUT 3 AM. DANIEL--OUR SECOND GUIDE, BECAUSE REGAN TOOK OFF 2 DAYS EARLY FOR HIS SISTER'S WEDDING--WOKE US UP AT 6:30 AS HE HEATED THE WATER FOR OUR "HOT DRINKS"--INSTANT COFFEE, MILO CHOCOLATE, POWDERED MILK AND TEA.

We are exhausted and recovering from some scrapes and sore muscles, but really feel good about the whole safari experience. Today we relax in Christchurch under an overcast, then back to flying tomorrow, to Auckland for a day of city experience, then the long flight home and it will all be over! :-(

We hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we did (we really did miss you, though!) and hope you have a fabulous New Year! DITTO!!