Going it alone now!

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A blog update! Jessie left today to get to Christchurch which was quite sad. I have really enjoyed travelling together and we have had so much fun. We made it to Milford Sound and did an overnight cruise which was great. ON approaching Milford we were in a cloud and groaned at the terrible viewing conditions but as we descended the winding road to the harbour, things cleared up and the weather held out. We were able to appreciate the spectacular scenery and munched our roast lamb dinner out on deck watching Mitre Peak. Words can't describe the surroundings which were unbelievably beautiful. It really was worth the long drive to get there and afterwards we headed to Lake Manapouri and stayed in a great hostel where the owner took us out on his boat for a swim on a beach. The water was freezing but so clear and once our bodies had numbed we forgot about the cold.

We have had a nice trip down to the south island. Wanaka was less touristy than Queenstown and we did a great hike to the Rob Roy glacier and saw the cheeky kea (alpine parrots) which are very inquisitive birds. We also tackled the first part of the Routeburn track near beautiful Glenorchy north of Queenstown. It was a very interesting hike which went through forest and also on exposed hilltop amongst very Lord of the Rings-esque scenery. We had great weather there too. The only place which we peered around at on a wet day was Abel Tasman National Park which was a shame as the beaches cannot be appreciated properly when you are sat in a cave reading a novel which is what we ended up doing! However we got some exercise finishing the walk and the car got a wash on the way back!

I am heading back to Glenorchy tomorrow to do a one day hike near the Caples and Greenstone tracks. I decided against tackling a Great Walk track due to lack of time. Looking forward to heading to the east coast soon to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula.

I am trying to add photos but have had no luck - have followed instructions and the internet bloke can't do anything with the camera/computer either so sorry about that!

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Photos

Routeburn
View on the first day of the hike

Milford Sound
Early(ish!) morning

Milford Sound
Another morning shot (actually, I think the previous shot was taken in the evening now I look at it again)

Comments

[Jessie]

Happy trekking!
Great to hear about the trip through your eyes! Glad you'll get a chance to do some more hiking before you head back up to the North Island - wish I could be there for longer too. Take care and thanks for the trusty spoon! Jx