-
Photos from New Zealand Christmas and New Year
My expectations of a Kiwi Christmas were, in no particular order: BBQ, beach, summer fun, games, big gatherings, and tables shuddering with the amount of delicious food. These expectations, I believe, could have been met by many families (as I've heard stories of recounted holidays from many Kiwi's on my journeys), but the couple I stayed with did things quite differently.
-
The Sound of Silence: A Little Luxury and a Lot of Peace in Doubtful Sound
As we set sail on the 42 kilometer sound, one of the bigger ones in Fiordland, I nose my way around the ship, claiming my bunk and finding the best view points. Over a snack, we get some Fiordland history that answers some of my burning questions. First, what is a sound and what is a fiord?
-
Rainy Routeburn: My First Great Walk
To be perfectly honest, I was not feeling all that excited the night before I was set to do the Routeburn Track. Because of the popularity of these Great Walks, you generally have to book your huts far in advance, which means you have no idea what the weather is going to do. When I checked in with the DOC office the day before my big hike, the ranger told me to expect rain all day on Day 1 and to wake up to snow on Day 2.
-
A Week in Wanaka Getting High
Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island. Not far from Queenstown, it's located on the shores of Lake Wanaka. And Lake Wanaka is a ginormous and stunning blue lake that fills an old glacial valley. That means there is plenty of room to spread out on the flat valley floor and that the lake edge consists of steep, rocky mountains. It's a great combination from any angle. But Wanaka's best angle is definitely from above.
-
Arthur’s Pass: My Favorite Alpine Region of New Zealand
You know a valley is glacially carved because it is U shaped: a wide, flat bottom and steep sides. The narrow Arthur's Pass Valley is a glacially carved valley, though not as wide and flat as many other glacial valleys in NZ. But the second feature--the steep sides--is very much present.
-
Goodness Glaciers, Great Balls of Ice
In New Zealand, Kiwi's pronounce glacier differently. I say "Glay-sure," with an sh sound in the middle. But Kiwi's say "Glass-ee-er". I like it. It makes what is essentially a several-kilometer-long hunk of ice capable of re-shaping entire landmasses sound very delicate. Fragile.
-
Solo Hiking and Lessons about Life: The Copland Track
The Copland Track starts with bluster. Less than 50 yards from the carpark is the biggest river crossing: Rough Creek. According to river crossing safety, it's not recommended to take off your shoes to cross a river, but the hostel owner in Fox told me I should take off my shoes so I didn't have to hike the next eleven miles with squelching shoes. It's also best to cross a river at the widest point. It means you spend more time with your feet in chilly water, but the water is generally slower and less forceful as it's power is spread thin. So I searched for the widest area, where…
-
Staying Low and Looking High: A Weekend at Mount Cook
It seems to me that humanity in general has an obsession with tall things. Such things come in multiple flavors: man-made, like the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower. Or wondrous natural occurrences, such as Mount Everest. In New Zealand, it’s Mount Cook (Aoraki in te reo Maori). The obsession seems to extend to getting on top of tall things: eating dinner atop the Eiffel Tower, climbing to the summit of the highest peak. There is an entire museum in Mount Cook Village about Sir Edmund Hillary, who was the first to summit Mount Cook (and then he went on to summit Everest, so he clearly had a bigger obsession…
-
Highlights of the Road South: Methven to Omarama
In traveling from Christchurch to Lindis Pass (gateway to Wanaka, Queenstown, and many of the activities most tourists come to experience), I discovered some lovely places on, and off, the beaten path. Mount Sunday got it's name because boundary riders would meet at the tiny mount on Sundays.
-
Home on the (Mountain) Range
This post picks up where I left off: traveling from Westport back to the East Coast of the South Island. Though I’d made the same drive only six days previous, I didn’t take the time then to stop and appreciate the beauty (partly because I didn’t even know I’d reached Lewis Pass until I’d passed it!). My return drive, I decided, would be different. I was back to explorer mode, rather than rush-to-the-west-coast-to-do-a-hike mode First, I pulled up Google Maps, zoomed in on the area where I’d be driving, and searched “waterfall.” This is one of my many strategies for finding New Zealand waterfalls, and it did not disappoint. There,…
