The Best and Worst of New Zealand

21-Feb to 17-Apr-2011

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is. Our final post from our travels and travails in New Zealand. And (deep breath) this means I am finishing this post from California. We are home! We are so happy to be home and can’t wait to visit with all of our friends and family. We spent some of our last few days in NZ relaxing in the beautiful surroundings of Queenstown, while celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. Following that we headed back to Christchurch. In Christchurch we crossed our fingers for an earthquake free couple of days and visited our friends who so graciously took us in after the quake. After a couple of nights in Auckland we jumped on a plane for the tropical island nation of Fiji. Six days of sand, sun, and splendid snorkeling later we are fully relaxed. After a couple more days we won’t have much more to write about and will have to put 1longweekend to bed for awhile. Thank you all so much following this blog over the last 10 months. Keeping you all posted has been a fulfilling pursuit. What a long, wonderful, journey this has been. That said, we hope you enjoy our “best’s and worst’s” of NZ.



New Zealand By the Numbers
Days in NZ: 56
World Heritage Sites Visited: 2
Days Trekking: Most days
National Parks Visited: 8
Number of Hikes: 39
Miles Driven: ~2,600 Miles
Flights: 2
Number of Sheep: Thousands and thousands (Bah, ram, ewe!)…maybe a million
Stomach Illnesses: 0 (NZ is one clean country)
Natural Disasters Experienced: 1
Photos Taken: 4063 (72 per day)



Best’s

Best Day
Nick: Our first day near Glenorchy-amazing, amazing scenery
Rachel: Hiking up to the dreamy Lake Marian in Fiordlands National Park

Best City/Town
Nick: Dunedin (Auckland is pretty nice too)
Rachel: Dunedin

Best Meal
Nick: Tapas in Queenstown for our anniversary (I must give an honorable mention to NZ’s gourmet hamburgers- American has a lot to learn, I kid you not)
Rachel: My birthday dinner in New Plymouth

Best Wildlife Experience
Nick: When the single, lonely, yellow-eyed penguin strolled onto the beach in the Catlins
Rachel: looking over and seeing a Kea in the middle of the road while waiting our turn for the Milford tunnel

Best View
Nick: Bennett’s Bluff sunset on our last night in Queenstown (and Milford Sound, of course)
Rachel: Sealy Tarns in Mt Cook National Park

Best Surprise
Nick: The overwhelming hospitality of our friends in Christchurch following the earthquake. Such great people!
Rachel: How nice the weather was

Best Hotel/Hostel
Nick: Ditto to Rachel
Rachel: Elliot Hotel in Auckland

Best Campground
Nick: Curio Bay Campground. Okay, the campground is really basic, but it is right next to a petrified forest and awesome beaches where whales, dolphins and seals play.
Rachel: Q Box in Queenstown

Best National Park
Nick: Tongariro National Park
Rachel: Fiordlands National Park

Place to which we’d most like to return
Nick: Every place we visited in NZ, if we are lucky
Rachel: um, New Zealand

Favorite Walk
Nick: Really hard to pick, but I really liked the one along the Pororari River in the pouring rain, Paparoa National Park
Rachel: Marian Lake

Favorite Section of Road
Nick: The Forgotten World Highway to New Plymouth
Rachel: Buller Gorge to Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island

Most Fun
Nick: Ditto to Rachel
Rachel: Riding bikes while wine tasting on the North Island

Funniest Moment
Nick: Constantly having to remind myself not to drive on the wrong side of the road
Rachel: when I fell into the space underneath our bed and our pop-out tent in the back of our car



Worst’s
Worst City/Town
Nick: Invercargil (it wasn’t worth the 2 hours we spent there)
Rachel: Haast

Worst Meal
Nick: Meat pie in Queenstown-greasy and not tasty. Why are those things so popular?
Rachel: the compounded effect of pb&j sandwiches everyday

Biggest Waste of Money
Nick: Having to pay obscene amounts of money for ridiculously slow internet connections. There was far better internet service in every country we visited in Asia.
Rachel: ditto…we spent hundreds of dollars on this…

Most Disappointing Moment
Nick: Having to politely answer the question, “I thought Americans never traveled outside their country?”asked by Europeans (most of them on short trips) over and over again. We are sick of this, period.
Rachel: Christchurch earthquake.

Worst Campground
Nick: The campground in New Plymouth. It had a quaint “a serial killer would stay here” vibe to it
Rachel: parking lot “campground” in Wellington

Saddest Moment
Nick: 12:51 on February 22nd in Christchurch
Rachel: The earthquake

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Skirting the Southern Coast

31 March - 4 April 2011
With four fine days of weather behind us, we fled Milford Sound for the southern coast. After a stopover in Manapouri, a day walk at the start of the Kepler Track, and two umbrella chasing horses to guard us at night as we slept in a cushy cottage, we found ourselves staring boldfaced into a wind that reminded us where we were—at the end of the world with only Antarctica to blame. Big chunks of ice certainly have a knack at creating some dreadfully cold weather conditions.


Not brave enough to step foot onto a ferry headed for Stewart Island and promising ourselves that we would come back in the summer when the wind wasn’t quite so cold, we headed east from southern tip of New Zealand, reminiscing about our time in Tierra del Fuego. In comparison, the weather in the sheep dotted southern end of New Zealand is quite pleasant to what we experienced in its Argentine counterpart.


We headed straight for a place called Curio Bay, named as such because of the curiosities that call this place home – a petrified forest in the place of tide pools and one of the nesting locations for the rarest penguin in the world- the yellow-eyed penguin. After parking our car in our campsite, surrounded by 20ft high and deep flax, we meandered down to the beach to count tree rings and stand on petrified logs while dodging the incoming tide. At sunset we retreated to a viewing platform to wait for the return of the yellow-eyed penguin, which spends its days foraging in the southern South Pacific Ocean. Waiting as patiently as possible for their return, Nick and I recalled a few reasons why we are botanists and not wildlife biologists- one being that you don’t have to wait around in the cold for a plant to show up.


Suddenly, a cute, medium sized, yellow-eyed penguin arrived! Standing at the edge of the petrified forest the bird warmed himself in the days last light, looked a little confused and very lonely. After ten minutes or so, obviously disappointed that no one else had come back from the sea, the penguin waddled and hopped his adorable way past petrified tree trunks to his burrow. His progress was interrupted only by his own declarations of home coming, which were executed by throwing back his head and flapping his wings to let out a whopping call. It being the end of the breeding season, he was the only one to come home that day—the others already apparently finished for the season.


In Dunedin, the ever windy and now quite rainy weather diminished our spirits and nearly blew us off the cliff of the Otago Peninsula.

With a plan to head towards Mt Cook National Park, we drove north towards Oamaru and a colony of the smallest penguins in the world. On the way there, after stopping off at some randomly rounded rocks on the beach – the Moeraki boulders – we looked inland and saw clear skies over newly snow topped mountains and made the quick decision to skip the mini penguins and go straight to Mt Cook and the promise of good weather.

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So nice, but Cook missed it twice

28 March - 2 April 2011

Fiordland is a national park that tampers with your sense of scale. Massive rivers rush at a “fast forward” pace, multiple Yosemite-esque valleys spring into view, some of them partially submerged in ocean water, and beech forests cling to sheer cliffs jutting thousands of feet into the air. When it rains, it pours, and in the deluge thousands of waterfalls cascade off cliff faces.

For good reasons, Milford Sound, one of the few easily accessible places in this wilderness-laden park is one of NZ’s most famous tourist attractions. Gazing at Milford Sound from the shoreline you constantly have to remind yourself of the size of the landscape. Each mountain is so big that it is hard to perceive their size. It is hard to imagine that Mitre Peak (in the photo below) rises nearly 6000 feet from the ocean’s surface. Only when a miniature-looking tour boat passes (carrying up to 200 passengers) underneath these peaks do you realize the unbelievable scale of this landscape.

The road to Milford Sound is undeniably one of the most scenic drives in the world. Along the way we stopped to watch the first light on Gunn Lake-admiring dreamy morning reflections. We stopped for a trek up to Kea Summit and gawked at a myriad of peaks and the distant Marian Lake (a lake we hiked to a few days later) perched in a high glacial valley. At the end of the road, staring at postcard-perfect Milford Sound we were greeted by one of the finest views imaginable.

One our second day in Fiordland National Park we took a boat tour in Milford Sound. With the good fortune of clear weather we marveled at impossibly huge mountains, gigantic waterfalls and viewed the “sound” (not really a sound at all, actually a fjord) from the Tasman Sea. From this perspective Miford Sound does not look like much at all. The opening to this fjord is all but imperceptible from the sea. The orientation of Milford’s majestic mountains caused the intrepid explorer Captain James Cook to pass by it twice without notice. Of course, Milford was already well-known to the local Maori as a sacred place and source of coveted jade.

The next day, we scrambled up to Marian Lake, a turquoise gem situated in a high glacial valley. At the start of the trail we traversed a gantry. Adding a new word to our vocabulary we learned that a gantry is a wooden walkway perched above a rushing stream. Along the way we traversed a large landslide that covered a quarter-mile of a hillside. Staring at Marian Lake, dwarfed by mountains and waterfalls, it was not hard to imagine this wild place, not too long ago, cloaked in glacial ice. But back along the gantry…

Milford Sound is place that makes you feel small. It is a landscape that defies ones perception of scale. Just picture multiple Yosemite Valleys (yes more than one of them) filled with water from the ocean. From this perspective it is not hard to imagine why it is a sacred place for the Maori, and has become one of NZ’s most enigmatic places of tourist worship.

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Aspiring to Paradise

21 -25 March 2011

As we traveled inland and away from the wet, west coast the scenery quickly changed from dramatic and deserted coastline to steep glacial valleys where wide blue lakes are filled by impossibly wide and braided crystal clear rivers. From my perspective, one of the best things about New Zealand thus far are the wide, braided, and glacially fed rivers. Wow, I think I’m in love.

In Wanaka we visited the awesome Mount Aspiring National Park (but what is it aspiring to, we wonder?) and Rob Roy Glacier. After huffing and puffing our way up through dense southern beech and fern rich forest we were rewarded with a view of the retreating Rob Roy glacier. Over a lunch of our favorite PB&J sandwiches we kept an eye out for the Kea, a large, friendly alpine dwelling parrot, and watched as large chunks of the glacier paraded down the steep mountain sides in true avalanche style. After soaking up some Vitamin D and without a visit from a Kea, we reluctantly marched ourselves back down through the beautiful, lush forest and onto The Matukituki River floodplain.

After Wanaka we spent a few nights in Queenstown avoiding the advertisements for bungee jumping, sky diving, parasailing, bungee jumping while parasailing, and honestly any way you can imagine to throw yourself off something-- they probably do that here too. Instead of emptying our bank accounts on the promise of 15 seconds of true bliss a la freefall (and there is something truly blissful about it—I jumped off a bridge here when I came to New Zealand in 2004), we went hiking and I found myself a much needed yoga studio.

We spent a day hiking near the town of Glenorchy, a quick drive from Queenstown, just on the other side of the hill from the famous Milford Sound, where the multi-day Routeburn, Greenstone, and Caples, traks start or end. Without tent, sleeping bags, or stove, (and 30+ days of trekking behind us) we have pretty much ruled out any overnight treks- or tramps as they call them here in NZ (Shucks, I guess we’ll just have to come back).

After bumming around along the Dart River on some nice gravel roads, we walked the deserted trail to Lake Sylvan soaking up the beautiful beech and fern forests (as usual) and taking in the perfect reflections of the mountains in the lake. After our walk we headed up another gravel road toward the town of Paradise and while we didn’t reach the town we certainly feel as though we made it to the destination- paradise. Or maybe that’s the delicious brownie served up at a Glenorchy café talking…

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Along the We(s)t Coast

12-21 March 2011

After guzzling vino in the Martinborough wine region north of NZ’s capitol, Wellington, we woke up early and drove our campervan onto the Cook Strait Ferry. The Cook Strait is known for its treacherous seas, so we popped seasickness pills and crossed our fingers on this early morning cruise to the South Island. Lucky us! Calm weather allowed us to stow our barf bags and we enjoyed seas nearly as smooth as glass as we marveled at the gorgeous coastal views and watched dolphins playing in our boat’s wake.

The next stop on our exploration of the South Island was Nelson Lakes National Park. Situated in the middle of the island, it is home a pair of gem-like lakes, beautiful alpine peaks, and…billions upon billions of sandflies. Nobody loves (or likes) sandflies. They are vile little creatures. From sun up to sundown these little buggers search out any and every piece of exposed skin and bite, bite, bite.

While the bites themselves don’t hurt too much, their after affects are truly remarkable. The bites ITCH! The bites itch so intensely that they can wake you up from a deep sleep, and the bites I got on our first day on the South Island still itch today, more than a week later. You itch until it hurts. I may have scars by the time I leave NZ. I repeat, nobody loves sandflies.

After enjoying Nelson Lakes we made our way along the impossibly scenic, Buller Gorge on our way to the we(s)t coast awed by the beauty of the Tasman Sea. By any measure, the drive along NZ’s south coast from Westport to Haast is one of the world’s most scenic road journeys.

Along the way the highway passes endless stretches of rock strewn coastline, deserted beaches, glaciers, pristine forest, lakes, rivers, waterfalls…you get the point.

About half the way down the we(s)t coast we entered the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area, over four million acres of national parks and conservation areas home to a hoard of mountain peaks, vast expanses primeval forests, and wild coastlines. Can we get a “woot woot” for NZ’s conservation effort. But, I digress, let’s get back to the title of this post.

On this so called we(s)t coast it rains a lot. So much, that some wetter, wet areas receive more than 25 feet of rain each year. Now that is a lot of rain.

With that in mind it probably does not come as a surprise that a couple of rain drops fell on our pretty little heads during the week we spent along the we(s)t coast. That said, we hope you enjoys the photos contained within this post, taken during those rare sunny moments (or the clouds parted for a second or two).

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NZ North Island

Auckland: 24-27 Febuary 2011

After flying 1^st class from Christchurch to Auckland, we spent a few days on solid ground getting used to the fact that every noise and truck rumbling past was not another aftershock. Auckland, a city built around 50 volcanoes reminded us very much of San Francisco.

The highlight of our visit was walking from the bay to Mt Eden (a volcano) and then on to One Tree Hill (…when the sun goes down over one tree hill…). Two weeks later this walk is most notable for introducing us to our favorite NZ beer, Monteith’s Summer Ale!

Coromandel Peninsula: 27 February- 1 March 2011

Our first stop after picking up our “Spaceship” campervan was The Coromandel Peninsula just east and over the Hauraki Golf from Auckland. We drove the coast, cursing the narrow road with a drop off into the sea as we oriented ourselves with driving on the left-hand (wrong) side of the road. We were immediately struck with the beauty of New Zealand’s coastline, and started to shake off our doubts about staying after the earthquake.

We spent two nights buzzing around the peninsula, visited a Kauri “pine” grove, went on a few short walks through dense forest and along refreshing coastlines, drank cappuccinos and French press coffee, made burritos, had picnics on the beach, and soaked up the near perfect weather complete with bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds!

Taupo & Tongariro 1-3 March 2011

We spent a few nights in Taupo boiling our bums in some pretty fancy hot springs before heading down to Tongariro National Park for some serious hiking. After one afternoon hiking in Tongariro, it started to rain and was predicted to continue for a few days. So much for hiking.

Forgotten World Highway & New Plymouth 4-6 March 2011

Driving being dryer than walking, we headed towards New Plymouth via The Forgotten World Highway. Along the way we ogled the geology, paused for the prolific tree fernage, crossed many a crystal clear river, were wooed by waterfalls, and stopped to stare back at some startled sheep. We even managed to stop off for coffee in another country --The Republic of Whangamonona—whose past presidents include a poodle and a goat. They do make a good cappuccino though.

After spending the night in our car during a pretty impressive storm, we decided to spend a few nights in a hostel for Rachel’s birthday and our own comfort. Because it was still raining, we spent Rachel’s birthday driving the Surf Highway south of New Plymouth, enjoying a picnic lunch in the car while staring at some pretty wild surf and afterwards a yummy dinner complete with sparkling wine and chocolate brulee!

The next day we attempted a hike up Mt Takanaki in Egmont National Park but after about an hour the mountain disappeared when the clouds came in and the rain began once again. We know what they mean when they say the weather here is “changeable”. Otherwise, it pretty much did not stop raining until we left New Plymouth and headed back towards Tongariro National Park where we still wanted to do some hiking!

Tongariro 6-9 March 2011

Arriving back in Tongariro and much better weather, we booked ourselves on a shuttle for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing the next day and headed out for a hike to some alpine vegetation and what is referred to as The Silica Rapids. These are named such because of the silica that coats the rocks and makes the rapids run white!

The next day we headed out for an epic walk across the volcanic landscape that makes Tongariro National Park famous. This was a truly grand walk, climbing up to the saddle of Ngauruhoe Volcano, setting out over a windy plateau, climbing back up to Red Crater, down to three perfect turquoise lakes, back down across another plateau, and then down through the alpine, further down through sulfur spewing grassland, through a forest, and out into…a parking lot. This was definitely one of the best day hikes we’ve done…ever.

The next day we went over to the charming town of Ohakune to hike in the southern portion of Tongariro to Waitonga Falls. Our legs were a bit tired from the previous days walk but we felt strong and remembered the days that we would walk 6 hours a day back in Nepal – this was nothing.

Martinbourough 10-11 March 2011

It didn’t take much to convince Nick that our next stop should be to the wine tasting region to the East of Wellingon where we could spend a day tasting wine and trying not to fall off some bicycles. We spent a few splendid nights enjoying the perfect weather and indulging ourselves with wine and good food.

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