New Zealand

We were really happy to get to New Zealand after several months in Southeast Asia. Don’t get me wrong, we loved our travels through Asia, but it was really nice to get back to a Westernized country where you can drink good (and cheap) wine and eat cheese, mmmm cheese. Initially,we arrived and stayed in Christchurch with my friend Shawn who I used to work with me in the ICU at UNC and who now lives in NZ. We enjoyed visiting with him and his partner Caetano who was just getting ready to move in while we were there. They graciously hosted us for several days while we searched for a car to buy. We ended up going to a car auction and bidding on a 1992 baby blue Nissan Sentra (funny because this was the same make and model as the first car I ever owned). We took a big chance on the car because it didn’t have any history and we were only allowed to test drive it approximately 200 meters. We watched YouTube videos about how to buy a used car which at least gave us a little insight. We ended up being super lucky with Little Blue!

As soon as we got our wheels we hit the road. We drove the entire South Island, camping the entire time. We spent a good 40 nights straight in our tent, took another few nights respite at Shawn’s, and then did another 20 or so nights back in the tent again. We became very efficient at taking down and putting that puppy up ( : We really enjoyed the tent experience, and it actually felt kind of strange to sleep indoors again after that many nights outdoors. The weather was perfect while we were in NZ. We had a few rainy nights on the West Coast where it ALWAYS rains, and there were definitely some horrible sand flies to contend with at times, but all in all camping in New Zealand was super easy, beautiful, and comfortable. New Zealand has no poisonous snakes, bears, wolves (tigers, lions) and only one poisonous spider. Also, people don’t get murdered while camping and hiking in New Zealand, as has been known to happen occasionally on the AT. You can generally feel super safe and secure, which is just an added bonus to the absolutely magnificent beauty that surrounds you EVERYWHERE! Also, the Kiwis are friendly and helpful! (Not the birds, the people. You can’t find a friggin’ kiwi bird unless you are extremely lucky and still, they refuse to be your friend or to help.)

I’m not going to bore you with stories of every trail and mountain, but I will touch on some of the highlights. The first was the hike to Mueller Hut. This was early on in our trip. It involved hiking hundreds and hundreds of stairs, during which you could see spectacular views of Mount Cook and the Hooker Valley the entire way. It quickly became apparent how out of shape we were. Nepal had been quite a long time ago at this point and snorkeling does not get you in shape for climbing mountains. When we got to the top we had a 365 degree view of stunning mountains and glaciers as well as the ice shelf of Mount Sefton. We relaxed at the hut and had the chance to meet several very nice folks from around the world, including South Africans and Israelis. They even had a guitar at the hut and Tony served as a human jukebox for the Israelis who fortunately loved Bob Dylan and Neil Young. We sat and watched Mueller Glacier and it’s neighboring smaller glaciers dumping avalanches and listening to the echoes like explosions all around us. We saw the first and last mountain goat we would see in the country. That night we slept in our tent on the ridge and were woken up repeatedly by the wind pushing our tent walls down on top of us.  A little bit of a rough night, but it was definitely worth it when we woke up in the morning to see a sunrise so beautiful it left us speechless. After mealtime, we were reminded to pack up our tupperware by a Kea (alpine parrot) who came by to see if we had any leftovers.  We would have more run-ins with these birds during our trip, but thankfully they never stole or destroyed our camping equipment as they have been known to do.

It’s really hard to pick out our favorite things about New Zealand. We probably hiked half of the hiking opportunities the South Island. We did three of the Great Walks on the S. Island  including the Kepler, the Routeburn, and the Abel Tasman all of which were absolutely stunning and unique in their own way.

When we did the Routeburn, we decided to forgo the expensive transportation from the parking area to the other end of the trek and took a chance on hitching a ride back to our car which was at the start of the trail, a full two day walk and a 5 hour drive from the trail’s end. We had to be back for an appointment in the afternoon two days from our intended end date. Hitchhiking is a common mode of getting around in NZ. We hadn’t needed to do it thus far, but we thought we’d take a chance. During the hike we found out through word of mouth that it was very difficult to get a ride at this time of year so we asked around and found an alternate trail that would take us to a better hitchhiking spot. Fortunately we had enough food with us, so we added on another full 9 hour day of hiking back the Cables trail. With the help of a new Aussie friend, we ended up getting back just in time for Tony’s dentist appointment. The trail was stunning, the weather was perfect, and Tony ended up with two new shiny fillings ( :

One of the most spectacular trails we hiked was the Reese-Dart. We spent five days and four nights trekking to the Cascade Saddle which is one of the most beautiful Alpine views we’ve ever seen. The first day was hiking through knee deep mud and fording rivers. The next few days were beautiful and relatively easy trekking days exploring a variety of beautiful landscapes from beech forests to alpine views, fording rivers and crossing terraces and gullies. While on this hike, we met a lot of really great people from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and France. We ended up spending every night with them and hiking with them at times during the day. The final day was the real challenge. Recent landslides had created a new lake where the former trail had been. The trail had actually just been reopened but was still very rough. We were constantly having to trudge over felled trees with our huge backpacks and walk on a slant in loose dirt. It was very easy to lose your footing. At one point I had to call Tony to come back because I had fallen flat on my back into a pile of ferns and branches. He extended his hiking pole to me and pulled me out of the deep trench where I had landed. Not my smoothest moment of the trip ( : At the end of the trek we again had to hitch our way back to our car via some friendly fellow hikers who finished hiking just before us.

After all of our hikes in the Queenstown area we ended up at the public swimming pool A) to take a shower and B) to soak our muscles in the hot tub and sometimes C) to submerge our air mattresses in the pool and try to find the holes. It is truly amazing how good a shower can feel when you’ve been hiking in the woods for 5 days, and all you’ve had is an ice cold stream soak here and there.

We also decided somewhere along the way that we couldn’t leave Queenstown without attempting some adventure sport so we went paragliding. It was my first time, and Tony’s second. It was an absolute incredible experience soaring through the sky and being able to see the mountains from this totally different perspective. We soared on the breeze over the beautiful green mountains that surround the Queenstown area.

Another highlight of the S. Island was being able to see all the marine life in and around Kaikoura and Curio Bay. We were able to see yellow eyed penguins, a very rare species, coming in to nest in their natural habitat. We watched their pups playing in a shallow pool of water in the rocks. We also witnessed many sea lions and their pups at play. Additionally, one day while we were hiking we came across one lone sea lion chillin' in the sand dunes. At one other point during our travels we saw a few of them wrestling with one another. They are really funny creatures to watch!

The Abel Tasman Coast Trek was another unforgettable experience. It is one of the most popular hikes in the country and we did it at the perfect time of year because the weather was beautiful and the trails were much less crowded than in the peak season. We hiked through a nice mixture of jungle-like canopies with the brightest green ferns you’ve ever seen, golden beaches with granite cliffs and bright blue water. This was our last major destination prior to heading to the North Island. We also did many many day hikes on the S. Island. We spent time in all the major areas of the island, including Milford Sound, and Arthur's Pass National Park.

We spent two of our three months in NZ on the S. Island. We had been told that the S. Island was where it’s at and we really were glad we spent so much time there. However, the N. Island also had some really amazing things about it too. We took a day and sailed in the Bay of Islands, an area unique not only for it’s spectacular beauty and marine life, but also for it’s significance in being the first place European settlers (notably Captain Cook) landed and had their first interactions with the Maori. We spent time in the Waipoua Kauri Forest, home of the 2,000 year old Kauri tree, “Tane Mahuta.” We hiked in The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, climbing Mount Ngauruhoe, and looked into the rim of a volcano for the first time in our lives. Although we hiked up the volcano, due to the loose tephra, pilli, and ash on the way down we were mostly skiing or sliding down on our behinds. I have a nice scar on my leg from the adventure ( :

The volcanic activity in the central N. Island has caused there to be some amazing geothermic features present in the landscape. We visited several remote hot springs that were not developed and amongst beautiful, serene landscapes, surrounded by bright green trees and ferns with hot waterfalls, ahhhh. We visited Rotorua, the sulphuric-smelling town which is built on top and amongst several thermal vents, and also famous for it’s rich Maori culture. Although touristy, the colored thermal pools of Wai-O-Tapu were some of the most unique and interesting landscape features of the entire island.

At the end of our travels in New Zealand we took a few days to relax on the west coast, exploring sea caves and beautiful beaches. We spent the very last few days in the country in Auckland, attempting to sell our little car. We felt very fortunate when we were finally able to sell it for only $150 USD less than we bought the car for initially, not bad after using it for 3 months and putting 10,000 kilometers on it. It was an amazing three months and we fell in love with NZ. We will be back!