Blogs from Mount Aspiring National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

My arrival in Wanaka was slightly marred by a mix up with my shuttle transfer and subsequent expensive taxi ride the evening before, but I made it and what a beautiful setting the hostel is in. I sit eating my breakfast looking out over the lake and mountains all around. Lucky me. Later I'm sat in the supposed shuttle pick up spot and I'm not entirely convinced it will show, or if it does will be in some arbitrary change of pick up spot that I'm not privvy to. It's the same company that cocked up the day before! But on the dot into the car park rattles this beat up old minibus that's definitely seen better days, as has the driver, very chatty Andy who explains the reason for the state of the van, basically ... read more

October 5 – The Rob Roy Glacier sits in the Matukituki Valley in Mt. Aspiring National Park. To get to the trail head, we first had to ford the river 5 or 6 times. Thankfully, we were in Brian and Diane’s sturdy four-wheel drive Rav 4 and not in ‘gee zee jay’ which we left sulking in the parking lot at the resort. It was a cool, wet, windy day. (I was beginning to think there were no other kinds.) We first crossed an open area surrounded by beautiful green and gold, bracken covered hills. Brian set a fast pace trying his best to get us (well, mostly me) to the bridge before more rain fell as fording the stream on the way back might be difficult if the waters rose too much. We crossed a ... read more

Tuesday 26th November, 2013. Mount Aspiring National Park & Wanaka, Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Today we had planned to go Tramping (Hiking) in the Mount Aspiring National Park. The park was established in 1964 and is a wonderful mixture of remote wilderness, high mountains and beautiful river valleys. It is a walker's paradise, and a must for hunters, fishermen and mountaineers. Mount Aspiring National park is the 3rd largest in New Zealand (355,5643 hectares). It is part of the Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Historically, Maori used the trails over the mountain passes in search of food and jade (a.k.a. pounamu). At 3033 metres, Mount Aspiring (Tititea) is New Zealand's highest mountain outside of the Mt Cook (Aoraki) region. Nearly all of the landforms in the park have been formed by ... read more

Rise fairly early and am leaving the hut by 9am, the sun having had a half hour to melt away any frost. Hike up to the top and along the ridge to take a few pics and allow myself to be knowingly overtaken by the needy solo Israeli who has foolishly made the hike in a poor pair of sandals and has been hinting at making the descent with me to guide him. I reach the rock slabs. No ice to worry about but a moist smear of dirty rubble lies waiting for an unwary boot. So pride goes out the window and it's the back of the wanderer's trousers that are in permanent contact with the rock as I slide down gingerly. Down-climbing the treacherous, rooty drops below I quickly catch-up to the Israeli as ... read more

It's a chilly morning so Kai breakfast by the lake is an indoor affair today. Cloud hangs over the tops of the hills in the distance but that should lift and dissipate by some time this afternoon. The long drive down the familiar Matukituki valley to the roadend at Raspberry Creek. Dodging sheep, cows, and tourists (day-trippers to the Rob Roy Glacier) in the early parts of the valley but tranquility returns after Aspiring hut. Quick chat with the hut warden at Aspiring (Stu North - a man of some legend in the hills here) confirms that a half hour or so about French Ridge hut the terrain turns into mountaineering land and thus requires kit I don't have with me. So that confirms the plan for the next couple of days - up to French ... read more