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Published: April 2nd 2024
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After having some fish and chips and paua (abalone) fritters, a coastal Kiwi favorite, we drove several hours up and over the beautiful mountains running through the backbone of the country. We stopped at the alpine hamlet of Hanmer Springs before dropping down onto the desolate west coast. We were quickly finding there is more solitude to be found on South Island, with long stretches of uninhabited and inaccessible coast. It wasn't until the 1960s roads were built and these areas were even easily reachable. We spent the night boondocking outside of Hokitaka before moving on to the southern Alps and glacier country.
We stopped at Franz Josef glacier for a quick hike through the rainforest to a viewpoint of the glacier, but the clouds and rain from that morning had socked in most of the views of the glacier and peaks. Sadly these glaciers, like all the others we have visited around the globe, are quickly melting and visibly retreating in the last decade.
We drove for several hours winding up and over steep valleys and wide moraines carved by glaciers until we ended in the Lake District. We camped at one of our
best sites of the trip, another "freedom camp" beside lake Hawea. We joined another dozen or so campers along the beach forming a little pikey caravan camp, reminding me of the Salton Sea, with less meth and mental illness. Dennis started quoting Mad Max "who runs bartertown? Master Baster runs bartertown." We had a chilly dip (bath) in the glacier fed lake much to the amazement of our fellow campers.
The following morning we continued onward a couple more hours to Queenstown, the acclaimed adventure capital of the world. Queenstown lived up to the hype and the location and views far exceeded our expectation. It had the feeling of a European ski town, but with every adrenaline inducing activity you could imagine, most of which were invented here. From bungee jumping to jet boat rides, there is something for everyone. I opted for the Shotover jet boat ride after reading about how it's the best as far as jet boats go. The jet boat ripped through the picturesque narrow canyon at over 90kph, performing 360 turns narrowly missing the rock walls.
The next day we hiked the Routeburn trail, considered by many as the
best of the Great Walks in NZ, and one of the top trails in the world. We drove through Glenorchy which served as multiple filming locations for the Lord of the Rings, including the Misty Mountains and Isengaard. Pretty much wherever you go in NZ there a LOTR filming location. We staged at Sylvan Lake campground for the night before, a gorgeous Department of Conservation (DOC) site. This entire area lies in the Mount Aspiring and Fjordland National Parks. The Great Walks are tightly regulated by the DOC and require months in advance bookings to reserve space in huts. We did a day trip hiking 13 miles out and back. The scenery was sublime, transitioning from dense rainforest reminiscent of the PNW to soaring glaciated peaks and alpine valleys. The trail crosses several swing bridges over streams and waterfalls, not for those afraid of heights.
Our final stop for our most southerly point of the island was the Milford Sound. The Milford Sound cruise was two hours along the fjord past soaring peaks and cascading waterfalls and even a pod of bottle nose Dolphins. We got lucky with a perfectly clear day, rare for here as
one of the rainiest places on earth. As the crow flies it was only 25 miles from the beginning of the Routeburn trail, but with everything in NZ you can't just get from point to point easily, and the windy road wove around the mountains for several hours to get there From where we hiked the previous day. Poor Dennis is getting run ragged with my overly optimistic planned road trip. Of course I would have helped drive but I have zero experience with driving big rigs with zero visibility, Let alone on the left side and on these roads. Dennis drives fire trucks and ambulances for work so he gets the shaft for these trips While I sit back navigate and plan. Onward we roll!
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