The Kepler

Well what can we say, we haven't showered for 4 days and have just returned to civilisation. The Kepler was fantastic and the alpine scenary was spectacular. On our way there we went to Milford Sound to relax before the big hike. We had beautiful blue skies and the boat trip was wonderful. We saw every Peak including the famous Mitre Peak which is the highest mountain coming out of a fiord. We were also lucky enough to see New Zealand fur seals and bottlenose dolphins.

Mitre Peak:

Then the onslaught of the Kepler began. We adorned our thermal leggings and shorts and looked very fetching.. let me say now no man should wear leggings without shorts! We will let you make your own mind from the pic below.


Speaking of weird things we did meet a man that constantly walked around in his y-front pants.. interesting, he even had a knack of picking a bed right beside us. First thing in the morning, the sight of a 50+ man climbing out of bed in nothing but y-fronts was just the thing to make you forget about any sore legs!

However all scenery was not bad and especially on day 2 when we walked along ridges and saddles all day. We were so fortunate that the weather was amazing as we could see for miles and miles. At certain stages along the route there were toilets and we had our most dramatic and scenic wee's ever!



We met loads of interesting people and had lots of noisy card games late into the night with just head torches for light.. you can imagine the hilarity.

Even though we were miles from any shops, etc and had to carry all our own equipment including pots, food and sleeping bags we found out we weren't totally out of contact with the outside world. Gav managed to sweet talk the warden at the first hut (a warden is there in summer to give you a weather forecast each morning as if it is too windy you could get blown off the top of the ridge as you walk along!) and get her to listen to the sport on her radio to find out if Man U managed to beat Arsenal. She brought great news the next morning of a 4-0 win which pleased Gavin no end. This of course was much more important than the weather forecast that I was waiting for, thankfully the winds were not too high and so it was safe to walk to the next hut. That was the day we scaled Mount Luxmore as a wee detour and stood on the top and felt very proud.



We can honestly say we really enjoyed the Kepler and would recommend it to anyone. The most scary thing was having to carry this huge pack but it was actually not too bad and I surprised myself with the ease of it. The only signs I have are some bruises on my hip bones!

The Ridge:




Next on the hit list is to head up the west coast and have a walk on a glacier and kayak at Abel Tasman National Park.

The Old McKinleys had a farm e i e i o!

Well things have changed since we last posted. We have packed the tent away for two weeks and now we are living on a farm! This move was already planned and had nothing to do with the vicious attack from the cochroaches. I think Jess had left out some vital details of that night. It would appear that the cochroaches breed with albatross to create a mutant hybrid beast. They seem to attack with some sort of Churchill guided masterplan and display gladiator-esque attacking qualities.
However in the safety of the farm we are having an absolute ball (no pun for a story later in this blog!) and seem to have unearthed farming talents that we didnt know we had. The farmstay is comprised of a 750 acre farm (Deer, sheep and cattle) and a 4star Bed and Breakfast. I am helping out on the farm and Jess is helping with the B and B and doing a little farming (Finally she has got her dream of chickens and she collects the eggs every morning).

Sunrise on the farm:


We are eating like kings and i am putting on some of the weight that i lost in Oz. Jess still thinks i am very handsome and as she is a smart girl who knows what she is talking about i will continue to eat the roast dinners and home made cookies to keep the energy up. However as always with the McKinleys nothing is plain sailing. On our first full day, the family had to go off to a funeral and they left me to meet a vet on the other end of the farm and treat some cattle. After treatment the vet and i had thought that all the cattle had got out of the treatment pen and so i proceeded to walk the cattle back down the lane. However on my return I noticed that a calf had got its whole body stuck between a two posts and couldnt get out due to its hips and ribcage wedging it. It just happened to be pouring with rain and i tried for 25 minutes to get the calf out but she wasnt budging. I drove back to the house to get Jess and a sledgehammer but even with this amazing support team we failed to budge the posts. We ended up driving out onto the road and flagging down another farmer who said that the same thing had happened to him once. Finally we ended up lifting the calf about five feet into the air and over the posts! Over the next few days it was really touch and go for the wee calf who we have now called Houdini as she wouldn't stand up for two days which is dangerous for a cow because it stops the circulation, but we brought her back to the farm and looked after her and fed her milk and it looks like she will make a good recovery! I went to visit her yesterday as we have returned her to the field, but she ran away even though i called after her. Women eh!

Gav feeding Houdini:


We have had so many wonderful experiences at our farmstay and we are surrounded by beautiful scenery. This is definately the highlight of our travels so far and it will be sad to leave the beautiful scenery and the nice people that we have met. For a while i feared that i might be returning to Bonnie Scotland wifeless but i think i have convinced her to join me for the rest of our trip! I have also had the chance to explore the wild side of my character and on Saturday Roger (with the disturbing encouragement of Jess) was so kind to take me along with him to castrate bulls. There are some things in life that people shouldn't see and i reckon this is one. I did however provide some entertainment as when i was chasing some of the bulls around the pen i accidently stood on a disposed "gland" which exploded upwards and on to my jumper......Happy days. In the evening i was taken out to do some "pest control" on the hills which involved hanging out the back window of the landrover with shotguns and blasting Buggs Bunny and his mates in the head. I am sad to say it but i really enjoyed it and i even surprised myself at how handy i can be with a gun! Jess was asked if she wanted to come but her decision to stay behind proved to be a wise one as she was once the proud owner of a pet rabbit!
Next Saturday after our farmstay finshes we are going to do a 4 day walk in the mountains, called the Kepler walk. It is one of New Zealand's great walks and we can't wait to get up into the mountains and see the scenery which is meant to be breathtaking. Almost forgot to tell you, last weekend we went to a rodeo and Jess was very excited! I had to keep a close eye on her as i reckon she would have been in and jumping on one of the bulls given half the chance. We have also explored Queenstown and had a fun filled afternoon, needless to say we couldn't bring ourselves to do a bungy jump but we did go on a chair lift and zoom down on the luge which is like go-karting on the side of a mountain - pure genious and def something that should start in Scotland. We also did a practice walk for the Kepler around Lake Hayes which was really beautiful.

Queenstown and the beautiful Remarkables:


Here are a couple from our adventures before the farmstay:

This is on the beach at New Plymouth which is just beside Mount Taranki/Egmont:


Hamner Springs (where we dipped in the spa!)


The amazing Mount Cook - spectacular!