Kiwi Quest 2010 - Hiking Day 5

Hooray, hooray, we're staying at Cannibal Bay...

Photos: 1) 3 sea lions on the beach at Cannibal Bay. The smaller, lighter-coloured ones are female. 2) View from the observation deck of the fossilised forest shore. 3) A lone Hoiho penguin coming ashore. 4) Our Hangi dinner of yum!

This Catlins Coast area of the South Island is beautiful! You should definitely come down here to see it for yourself. If you squint hard enough, you might even be able to see Antarctica!

Today was a pretty relaxed day which means we didn't have to shoulder our giant packs and trudge uphill for hours. Instead, we were released from the confines of the van by a nature preserve with instructions to enjoy a walk through it to the beach at Curio Bay. Ok, twist my arm. We walked along the gorgeous beach for a while until we met up with Sophie and the van again. Then it was off to see a fossilised forest nearby at a tidal platform. Check out this cool link for more info on how the forest got fossilised:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/southland/murihiku/curio-bay-porpoise-bay/features/fossil-forest/
It was very cool to be down on the rocks at low tide and picking out long tree trunks preserved in the rocks. I even saw a big paua shell in one of the tidal pools. The channel off to the side was also neat because the waves would come crashing up to shore and be forced through the narrow channel, throwing up a swell of giant kelp and spray. We saw a Hoiho (yellow-eyed) penguin up the bank on the far side of the channel.

Next, we got dropped off again at what I like to call "Sea Lion Beach" although I'm sure it has another name. I call it that because as we walked along it (for a loooooong time because it was very big), we encounted at least 30 New Zealand sea lions and were allowed to get within 10m of them as long as we weren't bothering them or standing in their way. COOOOOOOOOOOL!!!! The first one we saw, a male, was GIGANTIC! The lighter coloured females tended to blend in with the sand and grass colours while the darker males tended to look like the giant piles of kelp. A lot of the lions were up at the top of the beach where the dunes with grasses came down to meet the sand so they were a little tricky to spot. Sean was posing with one big male in the background and had to move quickly when it started lumbering toward him. We thought it was pretty damn funny. One sea lion we came across was sleeping half on a pile of kelp with a flipper draped over it. Very cute.

We ended our long beach trek at Cannibal Bay, so named for human bones discovered there in the last century that were part of a Maori feast. It was time to pitch our tents next to an abandoned barn and get working on our Hangi project for dinner. Crap, here comes the rain! Quick, attempt to throw up a tarp in the blowing wind and rain with poles that won't stay in place and sticks that keep breaking. Next, huddle under the makeshift shelter and cover our table in lunch food for sandwiches. Keep a lid on things so they don't get wet. Squish the group under the sagging tarp to slap together some food before we tackle the rest of the work. Rain's letting up - time to dig for the Hangi.

Still wondering what a Hangi is? Check this out: http://www.maorifood.com/hangi.htm Sean got elected to dig our hole since he's strong and durable. The rest of us helped with tents, lunch clean-up, food prep for dinner, and dragging rocks/sticks across the grass to the Hangi pit. Fire's going well, rocks are warming up. Pose for pictures with the basket of food, then watch solemly as Sean carefully buries it. Yep, we buried our dinner. Now let's go see some penguins!

Off we go to a nearby sheep farmer's property. This is one of the few locations in the South Island where Hoiho penguins come ashore. They are the rarest breed of penguins in the world too. The property has a little beach cove area as part of it, and the farmer built a viewing area up on the bluff at one side. You have to hike down through his land to get there and it's not open to the public. Secret South indeed! We took a little picnic and a lot of warm clothes with us since it was overcast and windy and we planned to be there for a few hours until dinner was ready. I ended up wearing thermal bottoms, pants over top, 3 layers of shirts including a wool sweater, a balaclava, winter hat, mittens, my fleece jacket and my rain jacket on top. I get cold. Sean couldn't stop laughing at me after he asked if I was on my way to the Antarctic. We assigned one person to keep a penguin vigil at the fence while the rest of the group huddled on the ground below wind level, eating cheese/crackers/pickles/meat and an awesome Cadbury cream egg as a treat. Mine lasted about 3 hours, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Eventually, the shout went out that a penguin was coming in. We all leapt to our feet and hurled ourselves over to the fence. Sure enough, way down below us, a little (from this height) Hoiho was just finishing his swim to the beach on the waves and started waddling up the beach to drier ground. Some grooming and preening, then he/she hopped, hopped, hopped up the grassy bank into the farmer's paddock where they stay. Sophie told us that in the spring, it's not uncommon to see penguin chicks and lambs mingling in the same paddock. Awesome! By the end of the next few hours, we'd seen another two penguins coming ashore and were getting hungry for dinner.

Unfortunately, I had a bad stomachache that night (probably from the everlasting cream egg) and didn't partake in the Hangi meal so much. Once we carefully dug it up, we unwrapped it to find some mouthwatering, steaming food ready for the taking. Lamb, vegetables like "pumpkin" (squash) and "kumara" (what we would call sweet potato), butter, yum! Kirsten did a bang-up job of marinating the lamb, according to the reports I got from the rest of the group who ate the meal. Hangi is definitely a "slow food" way of cooking, but appears to be worth the amount of effort required for it.

Quick clean-up of dinner, one last trip to the outhouse, then it was time to wedge ourselves 2 each into a 2-man tent that I'm still convinced was designed to fit 1.25 people. You get to know your tentmate pretty well very quickly....

Kiwi Quest 2010 - Hiking Day 4

I feel sorry for the two old English guys who shared our hut at Green Lake last night. First of all, some of us were snickering at their farts (luckily, I think they were already asleep), part of our group also snores, and we generate a lot of noise when 10 of us are getting up early, making breakfast, and repacking bags, all in the same big room.

Photos: 1) Sign at the beach to entertain my mother, 2) sunset view from the beach holiday crib that we stayed in, 3) Oi! Scary (normal) hair day in the Catlins, 4) waist-high grasses (and unseen bog) that we tramped through on our way out from Green Lake.

Another funny thing happened at the Green Lake Hut in the night: there were 6 mattresses to sleep on up on the top row of bunks (picture the bunks, top and bottom, as one long continuous stretch of wood with 6 mattresses on each layer), and 6 of us sleeping up there, but somehow during the night, 5 of us shifted down toward Louise until Jane woke up in the morning and discovered an entirely empty mattress between herself and the rest of us. No wonder I kept waking after bumping into people in my sleep! Poor Louise on the end of the squishy section ended up sleeping with her leg on the window sill for more space. Sean kicked me a few times in the night too. That'll be the last time I sleep beside him. He also told me later that he'd been reaching for my head torch in the night, and had accidently grabbed my big toe. When he reached again in a different direction, he grabbed my other big toe and quickly gave up. We both thought this was hysterical and I still have no idea how I slept through the whole thing.

I woke in a bit of a panic on this morning. Sophie was up before us as usual, and had started her little burner to heat water for hot drinks, but from my vantage point and half-delirious-with-lack-of-quality-sleep state, all I saw when I opened my eyes was the reflection of flames dancing on the wall across the hut. I sat bolt upright, thinking the hut was on fire, but thankfully, I was dead wrong. It's way too early in the morning for false alarms....

Eventually, we got ourselves ready and hoisted our packs to hike out to the truck, about 3 hours away. It was very misty and cloudy over the lake this morning, so we quickly bid a not-very-fond farewell to the sandflies and took off. Most of the hike out was fairly uneventful, but we did have to mash our way through some pretty muddy bog a couple of times. I don't mind mud, even when hiking. My gaiters that I had borrowed from my parents helped a lot too, both with water/mud-proofing my feet, and mostly protecting my lower legs from evil spaniards and scratchy bushes. At one point I was happily stomping through some particularly muddy bog when suddenly my right lower leg disappeared into the mud up to my knee! My momentum and big pack kept me lurching forward, but I managed not to faceplant and slowly hauled my lower extremity back to the surface.

After washing our boots and gaiters in a freezing cold but beautifully clear stream, it was time to drive to Invercargill briefly for groceries and postcards, and to bid an early farewell to Bob who was putting up with a very painful back problem. For those who care, Invercargill is the southernmost town in New Zealand, and nearly the southernmost point in the country too. It has a lot of Scottish influence, and Kirsten was able to provide the Orkney viewpoint on that immigration.

Heading out to the Catlins part of the South Island (time for Google maps or an old-fashioned atlas), we found our "holiday" beach house in Curio Bay. It was a gorgeous location, up on a bit of a bluff above a massively long beach, although the house itself smelled like old people. Sorry, old people, but it really did. At least we had access to showers again! And a full kitchen too that we didn't have to share with anyone or any sandflies. I spent some quiet moments down on the beach by myself, listening to the surf and watching the waves along with the weird little crabs that jumped around. I pitched one of our tents in the yard for the night, thinking the surf would help me sleep better than sharing a room with two girls, but alas, it was a crappy night. Oh well, at least the scenery was awesome! Too bad the sheep across the road didn't want to come over to the fence and visit...

Kiwi Quest 2010 - Hiking Day 3

Hooboy! These hills are crazy. After today, I'm thinking Southwestern Ontario is pretty darn flat.

Photos: 1) Cloud coming over Green Lake as the sun goes down, 2) View down to Green Lake (I know, it looks blue) from the top of the world, 3) Tarns we hiked along with the grasses that saved my life more than once, 4) I MADE IT!!!!

Yep, up early yet again. Are you sensing a theme yet? To give you an idea, on this trip, "sleeping in" means alarms get set for 7am. Mind you, by the end of the day, we're so worn out from dragging ourselves up and down hills that we're usually in bed by 9:30pm. A lively bunch are we :)

To start our Boreland Saddle hike to Green Lake in the Hunter Range, we were in some pretty nice forest, mostly beech trees (don't quote me on that), until we came out above the tree line. A lot of tussocks, grasses, nasty plants like spaniards and madagari to stab you when you step wrong, but scenic. Always, always scenic which makes up for the blood that spaniards draw.

After a while of hiking uphill in the sun with no shade because there aren't any trees, I found myself staring at what appeared to be a black diamond ski run (sans snow) above me. Much to my amazement, the rest of the group were in various stages of making their way up it. Seriously! Since I'm almost always at the back of the pack, I have a very good vantage point from which to state that. Eventually, I overcame my urge to run screaming back to the van, hoisted my pack a little more comfortably, and started staggering straight up to heaven, zigzagging somewhat as my pack shifted and the path veered.

To be honest, I really doubted I could make it up that section. That's how steep it was. But I did, and finally joined the rest of the group on top of Mount Burns where we had lunch at 1634m above sea level. V-I-E-W-S!!! Could see for miles and miles once I stopped hyperventilating and my legs returned to not feeling like 2-ton jelly.

After a rest, we tripped and stumbled our way down through tussocks, spaniards, and long grasses that halted my uncontrolled, inadvertent, rapid descent more than once. Through the rainforest with Green Lake visible to the left, we dragged ourselves closer and closer to Green Lake hut, run by the Department of Conservation people. Oh, I didn't think I would make it. Do I really need to climb under this tree then over that one? Walk through mud? Sure, who cares if my feet are dirty at this point. I can't really feel them anyway, and they hurt like hell when I do since we've been hiking nearly 7 hours at this point. Sandflies? Meh, they never bite me anyway.

Some went swimming when we finally reached the hut; others, like me, were too tired to remember their name and tried to make an effort at unpacking their bags to dig out their portion of communal food for dinner and breakfast. Some delicious pasta with oil, cheese, and pesto into which I nearly fell asleep, then it was time to help Louise with the dishes. Small problem here: Sandflies like her. A lot. And we were washing dishes outside. Eventually, my job became drying the dishes and keeping the sandflies off her while she washed and danced to get rid of them. We found it pretty funny, but had a bit of a crisis when we couldn't get the pesto out of the bowls that were to be used for breakfast in the morning. You learn to eat pesto-flavoured museli without batting an eye when you're hiking...

Dishes done, we spent the evening learning card tricks and doing Tim Tam slams with Milo. Oh, gooey chocolately goodness!! I miss you. We shared the hut that night with two older hikers from the UK who put up with our giggles at their farts that everyone could hear since we were sleeping in one big room.

Kiwi Quest 2010 - Hiking Day 2

Photos: 1) The paddlers let out of jail to kayak around Milford Sound, 2) The rainforest area in the backwaters, 3) A New Zealand fur seal giving himself a bath (juvenile males come to this area for a couple of years), 4) Lady Bowen Falls, 5) Valleys all around us, 6) Gorgeous views everywhere!

Well, for those who think I'm just lollygagging down here while you're working, feel glad knowing we started our second day of our hiking trip at 0545. Yep, that's about 15 minutes later than I usually get up to go to work back home. My headlamp sure came in handy as I stumbled to the bathroom, still mostly asleep and too tired to even shower. A quick breakfast and group clean-up later, then we were headed in the van to Milford Sound for some kayaking.

Fiordland National Park is absolutely stunning and I don't use that word lightly. In fact, I'm running out of adjectives for how pretty it is down here. Technically speaking, Milford Sound is actually a fjord, not a sound. If I had more internet time for free, I'd include some links to explain the differences, but for now, you'll have to put your google skills to work. Essentially, one is a V-shape while the other is U-shaped. The persons who named this area are responsible for the misnomers and misspellings which are now world famous.

Anyway, we drove through views of low clouds, green mountains, and more gorgeous clear rivers. Through a tunnel whose name I forget (the location where they have a Naked Tunnel Run - no joke), then a great vista of a valley with blue sky and sun (yay!). Down a steep winding road that my mother would not have really enjoyed to the kayaking spot.

The water in Milford Sound is plentiful to say the least. They get a ridiculous amount of rain, and since the cliffs/mountains are grantite, all the rain goes straight into the salt water of the fjord below. This creates a layer of fresh water on top of the salt water which is quite interesting for marine life. As we paddled around, we drank in steep, plunging cliffs and a view of Mitre Peak (1722m high). Indescribable. We also encountered 7 male juvenile New Zealand fur seals, two of which we got very close to in our boats. They were just sleeping and resting on some rocks mostly, although two came out to us in the fjord and were playing around our boats for a few minutes. We also encountered another section of rainforest in the backwaters where Sean accidently fed Kirsten some tree for lunch when he steered their boat awry. Jane & I were kayaking for Team Canada back to the boat launch ramp, but we settled for silver against the stronger Scottish team.

A stop in Te Anau for more groceries and ice cream (and for me to drop my pop on the ground where it hissed all over my pants), then it was time to head on a long and winding road to Lake Monowai where we repacked our bags for an early departure (sensing a theme yet?) and divvied up food and equipment in preparation for our overnight hike the next day. Yay, shower time!!

Kiwi Quest 2010 - Hiking Day 1

Oh my, where to start? I've been offline since Feb 13th down here, six days ago, and a LOT has happened since! I'll try updating this blog in point form since this internet cafe is not completely cheap.

Photos: 1) Morning comes E-A-R-L-Y but the views are great, 2) Socked in at the top of Key Summit (the frown is from concentration on self-portrait, not an indication of weather displeasure), 3) Our goal: accomplished!, 4) Gathering firewood at the side of the road. That trailer stored our gear and was our travelling kitchen. If you are 5'8" or so, be careful about sticking your head in the back compartment. If you straighten up too quickly, you will smash the top of your head into the metal door frame. Trust me, it hurts for a few days.

I'm on an 11-day hiking trip with Hiking New Zealand/Active Earth New Zealand, tramping between Queenstown and Christchurch. We started in Queenstown on Valentine's day (down here), and our group consists of a Kiwi guide (Sophie), 2 Aussies (Louise and Gerald from Sydney and Canberra respectively), Mirijam is from the Netherlands, Bob (left on Day 4 d/t bad back) was from Quebec while Jane is from Vancouver, Kirsten and Sean are a couple from the Orkney Islands (part of Scotland), and Juli is currently living in Bristol (UK). We're a bit of a mash-up group, but we laugh a lot.

Day 1: Drove from Queenstown to Te Anau (you'll have to google these locations. They're all in the south end of the South Island of New Zealand), passing sheep, cattle, cyclists, more sheep and more sheep. Beautiful mountains, lakes, a very windy road. A lot of the roads we've been on thus far seem about 1.5 lanes wide, often gravel, and often on a cliff or mountain edge. Yep, no pressure with oncoming traffic! Had lunch by a river at 45degree latitude (just north of the Antarctic), got our first intro to sandflies. Luckily for me, they don't seem to find me tasty. Everyone else hates me for that while they scratch and itch and seethe.

Headed to Fiordland (I know it's spelled wrong; the first person to name it did that by accident) National Park after lunch, hiked up and over Key Summit where it was lovely in the forest down low, but overcast, very windy, and drizzling up top. Here is where I would discover that I suck at hiking uphill, making me (usually) the last person in line. Oh well, I just hack along at my own pace and so be it. The rainforest at the beginning of the hike was SO beautiful, cloudy and green with all kind of vegetation of all different shades of green. We passed crystal clear blue/green rivers that just made me want to jump right in among the big river rocks. Mountains of green rising through the mist and cloud make me swoon.

We camped for the night at a rustic campground by a river that would have been even nicer had there not been so many, many sandflies. For those who are unfortunate enough to react badly to bites, they leave large welts that make one want to weep with itchiness........or so I'm told. Anyway, my feet were quite sore this night, and I was exhausted beyond belief. Once we finally managed to squeeze into the kitchen for our turn at cooking, I nearly fell asleep in my dinner. It was a getting-to-know you night as I shared a room with Louise and Mirijam in one of the little cabins. Our bunk beds were like hammocks and the room was just big enough to turn around in, but we get along well thankfully.

Kiwi Quest 2010: I have it baaaaa-d for this country

Have I told you yet just how beautiful this damn country is?! I know I haven't posted any photos yet, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but I think I'm in love. If this isn't the most gorgeous country I've been to so far, it's one of the top 3.

Photos: 1) Highland cattle (originally from Scotland) at Walter Peak Station, 2) My hand feeding hungry sheep, 3) The Earnslaw steam launch, 4) Kiwi statue by the waterfront in Queenstown, 5) Beach in Queenstown. I can't get over how clear and beautiful the water is here.

Well, this morning got off to a bit of a panic-stricken start. I had a flight from Auckland to Queenstown at 0720 so Uncle Ross was to drive me to the airport at 0620. I set my alarm for 0520 (I need time in the morning because I'm not a morning person) only to wake up at 0600 when I heard someone walking around upstairs. I seem to have turned off my alarm while sleeping. A few quiet, creative curses later and I was hurriedly hurling on some clothes and frantically double-checking all my vital documents. Thank goodness I'd made good use of my time last night to repack my bags! A quick goodbye to Liz who thrust a hasty breakfast at me, then Ross and I were whizzing to the airport. I got to check in by kiosk, and even put my own luggage tag on my big pack before unceremoniously dumping it in a bin on a conveyor belt and rushing off to my gate. Must have done it right because it followed me here.

When I boarded the plane, some old guy was sitting in my seat, but eventually his wife figured out he was supposed to be in the middle seat and I was able to claim my spot by the window. The weather out of Auckland was good, but there was a front passing through the South Island so lots of cloud and some turbulence on the way. After descending through the clouds in Queenstown, we came in for landing out of the mountains to meet a sunny albeit cooler day. It's about 13C down here, much less humid than the north too. I'm wearing my trusty ragged wool sweater again because it's a bit breezy too and we're right on Lake Wakatipu (wah-kah-tee-poo). It's jaw-droppingly scenic here!

After hauling my gear to the hostel, I headed back to the main part of town where I was signed up to do an excursion to a working sheep farm across the lake.
http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/Farmexcursions/ I think I heard our guide say that Walter Peak is 2,000m high with the farm situated at the base by the lake. It's a vast farm, covering a LOT of acreage (numbers forgotten), and our guide/hosts were extraordinarily courteous and friendly. We got to feed various types of sheep by hand as well as some red deer (not Red Deer), watch a herd of sheep get rounded up by a dog, I held a 5-week old lamb in my arms, and we watched an unwilling ewe get sheared after a lovely break for afternoon tea. Our journey across the lake was in a 98-year old coal-fired steam launch which was fantastic. We could watch the men shovelling coal into the furnaces and it was certainly warm in the engine room! I also encountered an artisan's market outdoors down by the docks before the boat sailed so I poked around and bought an adorable little blue bowl (handmade ceramic, very nice artist man from Dunedin) with a bright, happy, sunshine yellow interior. Oh, and I've bought my first wool sweater too along with some NZ socks. Why am I shopping now when I've got to haul it with me???

Currently, I'm taking advantage of an internet cafe I found to update my blog and email while I have the chance. This may be my last post for a bit so be warned. Tomorrow morning, my newly-extended sunburn (I was in a rush this morning and completely overlooked sunscreen) and I are meeting up with the Active Earth New Zealand group to start our 11-day hiking trip to Christchurch. http://www.activeearthnewzealand.com/secret-south.html I've still yet to meet any other Canadians, but have chatted to Americans, Belgians, those of the UK persuasion, and an Aussie or two. I should have brought Dalrene with me - she managed to find all of the other Canadians when we went to Zermatt together a couple of years ago. I'll have an overnight in Christchurch (providing I survive the trek there), then back to see Ross and Liz for about another 5 days before I reluctantly head home. Can I stay here forever?

Kiwi Quest 2010: Adventures in Auckland day

Well, today got off to a rather slow start which isn't a bad thing at all. Even though I'm on the other side of the world, my habit of waking at 6-something a.m. has followed me here, so while Liz was at work and Ross was working on his email, I used the time to repack my bags for departure to Queenstown (South Island) tomorrow morning. Trouble is, my big pack seems to have a space problem now, even though I've taken things out of it to leave here while I'm hiking. What the heck?

Photos: 1) Lovely fern in the greenhouses in Auckland Domain, 2) Kiwi and egg (egg takes up something like 2/3 of the inside of the bird - largest egg relative to size of bird) at Auckland Museum, 3) Maori meeting (?) house at Auckland Museum. Very neat inside, full of carvings. Please leave your shoes outside. 4) I finally figured out what my uncle does down here, 5) Ferry Building in Auckland.

After a leisurely breakfast which included my cousin Martin (kind of), Liz dropped Ross and I at the nearby train station to get ourselves to central Auckland. Ross needed to work in his office at the U of Auckland, so we parted ways at the train station and I headed off to find an ATM, post office, and various other things. Thankfully, HSBC gave me some NZD so I now have 4 different currencies with me on this trip. The few NZ bills I've seen thus far are really cool because they have a transparent window in them. I'm planning to take a photo with all 4 currencies for fun so I'll post it when I get a chance.

After buying more postcards, I stopped at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum (http://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/) down at the water's edge. Ok, technically I never got past the gift shop, but I wasn't there because I was interested in boats. I was shopping. Anyway, it looks like a cool place to explore if you like floating stuff. The harbour is pretty busy and the Ferry Terminal is really old and cool from the outside (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Ferry_Terminal).

After finally locating the post office, I quickly hiked up a giant hill to meet Ross at his office where we would head across to the road to lunch in a neat old building on the university grounds. Horribly, I forget the exact history of the building, but it's old and neat and they've made a small cafeteria in it for faculty and their guests. We ate in one of the side rooms that had a small bar at one end and tons of old photos on the wall. Liz joined us shortly after and it was time to hand the niece off to her for the afternoon shift.

Off now to the Auckland War Memorial Museum (http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/) for some very cool Maori exhibits along with a simulation of what it would be like to live in Auckland if a volcano erupted in one of the harbours (scary - the floor moved!). They had exhibits about all kinds of stuff like more birds, a whole floor about different wars including some lovely stained glass tributes, dinosaurs and oceans. Sadly, I missed the gift shop because they kicked us out right at 5pm.

On our way to search out some caffeine in Auckland Domain, we found that the Hot House and Cool House (greenhouses) were still open so we quickly explored each one. I hope my photos of the flora and fauna turn out well. I saw a few items like Lobster Claw that I hadn't seen before. After a cup of tea and some banana-coconut cake, we had a quick but nice visit with my cousin Ben and his wife Bea - I've now met 2/3 of Liz's boys, but Julian lives in England so I won't meet him or his wife this trip - then back to pick up Ross and head home for dinner.

I've just discovered that my flight to Queenstown tomorrow morning is at 7:20 am. I'm an idiot! But on the bright side, I'll have the whole day to explore Queenstown, starting with a trip across Lake Wakatipu in a launch, followed by lunch at a sheep farm (including shearing demo) which should be a lot of fun. My hiking trip starts out of Queenstown day after tomorrow so be warned now that the blog will go for days at a time without updates while I'm tramping around the South Island wilds. I will have regular internet again when I return to the North Island on Feb 26th which will be Feb 25th for you.