Blogs from Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 9

Geo: -45.4151, 167.718Zaterdag 5 februariVandaag moesten we een hele afstand overbruggen van Dunedin naar Te Anau via Catlins. De Catlins is het uiterste zuiden van het Zuidereiland. We hebben hier enkele stops gemaakt, maar de steile, smalle niet verharde straat naar Cathedral cove hebben we met de camper niet durven oprijden. Dan zijn we maar wat verder gereden en hebben we een wandeling gemaakt naar de McLeans watervallen door een heel dicht bos met reuzenvarens. Het leek recht uit het decor van een film te komen zoals het Fangorn forest uit LOTR. Daarna zijn we nog naar het versteend woud gaan kijken in een van de talrijke baaien van het natuurpark. Via Invercargill zij we dan naar Te Anau gereden door de gietende regen. Zondag 6 februariIn het Fiordlands National Parks is het twee dagen op ... read more

Just a forewarning, this one here is a bit longer than usual. Embark at your own risk! Back in civilization where the internet and cellular phones work! Stewart island was awesome but I am happy to be able to be somewhere (even if that somewhere is Invercargill) I can upload photos and videos of the past few weeks. The boat trip over the Foveaux Straight was pretty rough but the weather was good. The ferry is a catamaran hulled ship which has seats enough for about 50 people, no vehicles, and only a little space on the back deck for the bins our gear was stored in. The swells were around a metre or more and the boat moved quickly, so the ride was pretty rough. The trip was just over an hour long and though ... read more

Took a coach tour down to Milford Sound rather than driving as we heard the road was quite challenging. In fact it was only tricky right at the end but it was nice for Herve to have a day of sitting back and relaxing. It also saved us some time which we made good use of later. Milford Sound is the smaller of the two fjords in the south of the the South Island. It is breathtakingly awesome to float around on our cruise ship. Athough we were there in mid summer it felt uncrowded. ... read more

It's day three and it looks like the weather is going to be fine. According tot he trail guide, this is the hardest day - it's only 14km, but it's supposed to take between 6-7 hours. Peter, Gethin, and I are the early risers, hitting the trail by 6:30. It's grey this early, in part because of the hour and in part because of a mist that gets thicker as we climb. And climb. The first two hours of the day are spent on a series of switchbacks (according to the hut ranger, on average it's a 10% grade) that rise 400 metres to the Mackinnon Pass. The mist killed any views back down the valley, but made the ascent a little cooler. I waited at the top of the pass for about an hour, hoping ... read more

The Milford Track; called by some the finest walk in the world. It stretches 53.5km through Fiordland National Park. The Fiordland area averages 200 days a year of rain and in January the track sees an average of fifteen days of rain. I can expect to see at least one day of rain, and the rain can flood out parts of the track, forcing you to wade through water up to your waist. Wish me luck. In Te Anau I boarded a bus for Te Anau Downs and a ferry that would take me across the northern length of Lake Te Anau and drop me at Glade Warf, the true start of the track. The first day's hike is light, at only 5km over fairly even terrain. The trail followed the course of the Clinton River ... read more