From Queenstown to Mount Cook

Queenstown

After Lake Wanaka I stayed 6 days in Queenstown. It is by far the most beautiful town I have been in so far with its picturesque location on the lake, surrounded by mountains with the atmoshere of a ski resort town. I could easily have spent more time there but there is still much to see in New Zealand and I have only four weeks left. It must be a very nice place to live! Chiropractor Neki Patel was so kind as to give me an adjust plus I treated myself to a massage with his physio therapist. It was much needed after four months of traveling and sleeping in hostel beds.

From Queenstown I made a day trip to Milford Sound, Fiordlands National Park. It was impressive but I didn't find it as spectacular as the tourist office would like to make it. Maybe because it is similar to what I have seen in Norway.  Maybe because it was chilly and overcast. Maybe just because I have seen so much spectacular nature lately that I am slightly saturated.

 

Horse trekking in Glenorchy nearby Queenstown. Now that was spectacular - and impressive in spite of me riding my whole life! Three hours along dry riverbeds and  crossing rivers, cantering in the bush in countryside where Lord of The Rings was filmed. It was like being in another world.

Dunedin Railway Station

Dunedin was next stop after Queenstown. Located on the East Coast on the South Island it gets it share of wind and rain and it didn’t really feel like summer. But I met  another traveler, Silke from Germany and together we enjoyed a hike up Mount Cargill as well as going to the movies and tasting wine in an Irish Pub, listening to live music and sharing stories from our travels, bitching about staying in noisy backpacker hostels and praising the beauty of this country as well as the very hospitable Kiwi's.

The morning after our fun night out on town we boarded the Magic Bus at 8 am more or less sober, heading inland again towards Lake Tekapo. On the way to our destination the bus stops at places worth seeing, like these huge, perfectly round Mouraki Boulders.

And then there is Mount Cook! With 3754 meters it is New Zealand’s highest mountain and the mountain Sir Edmund Hillary practiced before he was the first man to summit Mount Everest in 1954. The Mauri name for Mount Cook is Aoraki which means 'Cloud Piercer'.

Silke and I are hiking in this beautiful landscape. Weather wise it is extremely unpredictable. We started our hike up Hooker Valley at 11:30 in sunshine between glaciers and snow topped mountains. By 13:10 the clouds were moving in fast, Mount Cook was not visible anymore and we walked back in gusty winds, rain and gray all around us. Nontheless we had a great time!

Hooker Valley Shelter, Mount Cook

Lake Wanaka

I have seen numerous postcards and posters of Lake Matheson with the beautiful reflection of snow capped mountains mirrored in the still waters of the lake and I was very much looking forward to see it. I was prepared to take the perfect picture!

The forecast the day before was 'shadow on the ground'. A ‘perfect’ picture of Lake Matheson, however, requires a few preliminary conditions happening at the exact same time: snow capped mountains (as seen in winter), sunshine (it rains a lot on the west coast), no wind what so ever (screw that) nor any fish or birds to disturb the calm surface of the lake.

The Magic Bus arrived on a drizzling morning with low hanging clouds in the middle of summer. Not bad at all for a picture but not perfect. I did take the first picture, though, but I cheated . I took a picture of a poster I saw outside the information center. I think it is a pretty good picture of the poster!

Lake Matheson 

Lake Wanaka

Next stop was Lake Wanaka where I stayed 5 days and here I got plenty of opportunities to take perfect pictures. I kayaked on the lake, hiked along the lake shore and up Mount Iron, drank coffee at the café’s and got inspired by the iron men and women who competed in the annual triathlon ‘Challenge Wanaka’.

The weather had been beautiful until the day of the Challenge when strong winds made the race rather cruel for the competitors. I met an iron man, Dennis who finished the 3,8 km swim, 180 km bicycle ride and 42,2 km run in 11 hours. He said ‘he had a good day’. Well done!

There is so much beauty all around me that I keep being in awe. I never go anywhere without my camera. I love the contrasts of green trees and blue skies, turquoise rivers, white clouds. Some days it is as if I see more, everything stands out extremely clear. Details pop out I didn't notice the day before. On the next picture I went cloud chasing and ended up on a hill in the outskirts of Wanaka.

Abel Tasman Park - Punakaiki - Franz Josef Glacier

Time flies when you have fun. In my case no news are good news. The longer between blog posts, the more adventures and better weather I have had. Today it is overcast which makes a perfect time to stay inside.

From Wellington I took the ferry to Picton, a beautiful trip through the Marlborough Sounds. Becky stayed behind in Wellington to find work while Sabrine and Anne Sophie were still there. In Nelson the three of us had a nice dinner before they headed further south. I spent one day in Abel Tasman Park kayaking from Marahau to Watering Hole (Anchorage Bay) and hiking the 12 km back along the beautiful coast of rainforest and golden beaches. Next day I took a ferry taxi up the coast to Tonga Bay and walked back to Bark’s Bay from where I could take the 'taxi' back again.

Split Apple Rock, Abel Tasman Park

Then with Magic Bus to Punakaiki where I stayed a night at Te Nikau Retreat, a wonderful little accommodation in the rain forest. Unfortunately I could get only one night there so I had to stay the second night at the less romantic 'Beach Hostel'. However with its location right on the beach it was spectacular with the strong winds and wild surf – plus a beautiful sunset.

A little hike into a gorge along the river makes you feel once again you are in ‘Lord of The Rings’ nature. The west coast has very high rain fall. Everything seems to be overgrown by moss, dripping wet from last night's downpour.

No wonder the movie was filmed here. You can easily imagine a giant spider jump down on you any moment or for Smeagol to sneak up upon you in a cave but the fact is that New Zealand has no dangerous creatures or animals - not a single snake, which makes me like it here more than in Australia where you are better off expecting any and everything you don't know what is to be deadly.

Punakaiki is mainly known for the bizarre ‘Pancake Rocks’. Within a few hours of driving on the South Island the landscape changes dramatically.

Punakaiki Pancake rocks

Franz Josef Glacier had been covered in clouds and heavy rain for days on end but lucky as I am, the skies cleared the day the Magic Bus rolled into the little town at the foot of the glacier and made it possible to sign up for a full day hike up onto the glacier.

Franz Josef Glacier

                                                                                                                                    

For the rich and lazy there is a helicopter ride to the top and for the adventurous (me!) a guided full day hike where you put on sturdy boots and crampons and hike halfway up the glacier. It is an amazing experience to traverse the masses of ice. The crevasses are so narrow that we had to turn the body sideways to be able to get through. The blocks of ice so big that you can't see nothing but white when you are down between two walls. On top of the walls of course the view is stunning! Just forget for a couple of hours that the glacier moves downwards 1-2 meters a day, cracking up ice now and then! But that is exactly what makes it adventurous :-)



Blue ice!