Good bye New Zealand. Good bye Australia. Today will be a day in transit. We took an early flight from Christchurch to Melbourne, then to Vancouver before heading home to Chicago.
Christchurch
Last day of the Tour of Kiwi. Went to Akaroa in the morning and join a tour at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in the afternoon. A Kea has an average intelligent of a 4-year old kid. There were several Kea in the Reserve. All of them were injured in someway. Kea is an endangered bird with only about 4,000 alive today; and we got to see one in the wild at Milford Sound. The Reserve is part of the program to hatch and release wild Kiwis. As part of the tour, we get to go into Nocturnal House to observe Kiwis in real life.
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Steampunk
Time Dilation
Time seems to move slower in New Zealand. Everything is moving at an easier pace. Many towns we drove by looked to be in the ’60 or ’70. It’s not that buildings or the surrounding looked outdated, rather they were just not in any hurry to get old.
Oamaru
Oamaru used to be known for its population of blue penguins and having the best-preserved collection of Victorian architecture in the country. Steampunk HQ was founded in 2011 by a group of creative minds, who were passionate about Steampunk, and showcasing it to the public. Located within Oamaru’s Victorian precinct, it is the perfect setting for steampunk. Beyond the Steampunk HQ, there are many steampunk installation around Oamaru.
Christchurch
We arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon. First visited the i-SITE on Worcester Blvd to get some information. Walked around the Christchurch Botanic Garden admiring the tall trees and well planned gardens. Dinner at Cook N’ With Gas for some authentic New Zealand food.
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East Coast
Alternative Route
Instead of driving through the Mt. Cook region by way of Tekapo, we are traveling along the east coast through Dunedin and Oamaru towards Christchurch. Contrast to the west coast, the east coast is mostly flat plains.
Albatross and blue penguin
As we did not have much information about Dunedin, the first thing was to visit the i-SITE to get some information. The only question my wife asked was “Where can we see wild animals?” and we were pointed towards the Otago Peninsula. We visited the Royal Albatross Centre and went down the beach to find the cutest penguin in the world.
Moeraki Boulders
Continue north from Dunedin we arrived at the Moeraki beach in the afternoon. It is another amazing sight showcasing the wonder of a geological event. A boulder would take million years to form and another tens of millions of year for geological process to expose it to the surface.
Oamaru
Last stop for the day was Oamaru. We were too late for the evening viewing of Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. We walked around the area taking in the scene as we would not be here tomorrow night. As we were leaving, we saw a big crowd gathering around the parking lot; and it was a lone blue penguin waddling across the parking lot trying to get back to its nest.
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Doubtful Sound
Today we took a boat tour to Doubtful Sound.
Start with a cruise across Lake Manapouri, followed by a coach trip over the epic Wilmot Pass through Fiordland’s rain forest and into the Sound, then a 3-hour cruise through the waterways of Doubtful Sound.
We were pretty lucky the weather was really pleasant during the entire tour. While leaving Te Anau in the afternoon, it started to rain. Concerned the weather may get worse in the mountains, instead of driving north towards Lake Tekapo, we turned south towards Invercargill, the south most reach of the South Island. We reached Bluff right around sunset but was not able to find a good spot to catch the dipping sun.
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Milford Sound
Fiordland
Last night we arrived in Te Anau after 8 pm. One thing we learned during this trip is that most of the stores, including grocery stores, close around 8 or 9 pm. Oftentimes we would arrive in a town so late that there is no place to eat or get grocery.
Our initial plan was to take an overnight cruise at Milford Sound for one of the night, however the forecast predicted rain for the next few days and it had been raining since we woke up. Since the weather usually cleared up briefly in the afternoon, we decided to just hike the trails in the nearby area and go down to Milford Sound to take a peak in the afternoon. Tomorrow we will take a cruise at Doubtful Sound.
Kepler Track
Unlike many other multi-day walks, which evolved from Māori greenstone trails or pioneer exploration routes, the Kepler Track was custom-made, built for pleasure, rather than necessity.
Located on the southern edge of Lake Te Anau, the trailhead is only a short drive from Te Anau. Crossing the control gate, the trail started off in the rain forest right away. A few trackers passed us by along the way, clearly prepared for the multi-day trip for the entire track. Despite the rain, it is a very nice enjoyable walk. We turned back around Brod Bay, right before the trail turned towards the mountains.
Milford
The sky did not clean up in the afternoon. As there was still plenty of daytime left, we decided to drive into Milford Sound. It is a 240km round trip from Te Anua to Milford Sound with no gas stations along the way. Make sure to fill up the tank before heading into Milford.
There were plenty to see along the way before reaching Milford Sound, but the most amazing scenery was one that came to us. A kea stopped by and played with us while we were taking picture of a scenery. We later learned that a kea can have an intelligent of a 5-year old child and there are only about 4,000 kea left in the world.
The Milford Road connects Milford Sound through the Homer Tunnel. Before the tunnel opened in 1954 after 19 years of construction, there was no road access to Milford Sound. The tunnel, a 1.2km-long tunnel through solid rock, is a fairly steep 1:10 gradient running east to west. After the tunnel, the road wind through the Cleddau Valley to decent into Milford Sound. We arrived at the sound at about 7pm, hiked around the waterfront trail. Got as close as we can to see the Bowen Falls. The massive water volume due to the recent rain falls created a very impressive looking horsetail. Next time, we will definitely take the cruise out to the sound.
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Queenstown
Itinerary
Today’s itinerary is a long 325 km drive from Cromwell through Queenstown, into Gelnorchy then back out to Te Anau.
Lake Wakatipu / Queenstown
Shaped like a lightning bolt, Lake Wakatipu is the third largest lake in New Zealand. Queenstown, on the north shore of the lake, will be hosting the annual Air New Zealand Queenstown marathon this weekend. As such we could not find any lodging around the area, and had experienced the rare “traffic jam” when we arrived in Queenstown. We took a short hike up the Queenstown Hill Time Walk to take in the view of the city. Had our lunch at Joe’s Garage before heading into Glenorchy.
Glenorchy
Situated on the far northern tip of the Lake Wakatipu lighting bolt, Glenorchy is the locations for many scenes from The Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as the Narnia movies.
Te Anau
Coming back out, passing through Queenstown again, we headed to Te Anau for our stop for tonight. Te Anau is the gateway to the Fiordland National Park where we will spend the next few days exploring.
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Rob Roy
Rob Roy Glacial Trail
Getting There
Recommended by our Airbnb host, Sam, we headed out to Rob Roy Glacial Trail in the Mount Aspiring National Park. The track starts at the Raspberry Creek car park, about an hour drive west of Wanaka on the Wanaka-Mount Aspiring Road. The last 30 km are unsealed. The final 10 km is a fine weather road only and subject to washouts and flooded creeks that can be impassable. Check road conditions before you leave.
The Trail
About 15 minutes from the Raspberry Flat car park, cross a swing bridge over the West Matukituki River. The track climbs through a small gorge into beech forest, then into alpine vegetation at the head of the valley, with good views of the Rob Roy Glacier. Starting from the swing bridge, it’s a 4 km track to the upper lookout with the total altitude gain of about 450 meters. The view was so breathtaking very step of the way, we had to stop and take it all in every few meters. Although the sign says 1.5 hours to the upper lookout, it took us almost 7 hours to complete the round trip. It was well worth the extra time. While we were leaving the upper lookout, a thunderous avalanche took place right across the valley on the edge of the glacier. It was so loud that we thought the entire mountain was coming down. Cannot imaging what it would be like when a full scale avalanche were rushing down the valley.
Cromwell
After reaching Wanaka, we kept driving south and stopped at Cromwell for the night. Queenstown was fully booked for the next few days due to the Queenstown Marathon over the weekend. Funny how we always run into such events no matter where we go.
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Wanaka
Haast Pass Highway
Leaving Haast, we headed into the territory of Mount Aspiring National Park. An 134km drive to Wanaka and plenty to see along the way.
Roaring Billy Falls/Fantail Falls
A couple of short stops along the Haast Pass. Neither were more than a few-minute hike to the water fall. The water was so clear, pristine, and freezing cold. Perfect places for taking a short break from the long drive. Saw a lot of rock stacking at the Fantail Falls. Couldn’t help to add a couple of my own. Not the simple stacking, but rather some high balancing acts.
Blue Pools
The main attraction on the Haast Pass. When we got there, the roadside parking space was already full and more cars were parked along the road. A short 30-minute hike took us down to the gorge. The color of the water was a beautiful turquoise, felt like we could just hold it in our hands. The color was a result of light refraction on the clear and icy cold water runoff from the glacier. My toes were completed numbed after wading in it for a couple of minutes. A few brave souls did jump in for a swim. The only annoyance is the sand flies. They were all over the beach and they bit. Make sure to have plenty of bug repellent.
Lake Wanaka
Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea located just north of Wanaka. The two lakes were narrowly divided by The Neck by a mile. Before reaching The Neck, we stopped at the Minaret Bay on Lake Wanaka to take in the view. By the way the trees were shaped, there appeared to be constant strong winds in the area.
Wanaka
Situated on the southern tip of Lake Wanaka, Wanaka is a major stop along the Haast Pass before reaching Queenstown. We stopped here for the night as we would not be lodging at Queenstown.
There were many good hiking trails around, Mount Iron right before we entered the town, and Roy’s Peak only 5 minutes west of the town. Both looked a bit bare, with no shades. We decided to drove further west to the Diamond Lake Conservation Area. We hiked for only about half an hour with not much to see aside from the lake. On our way down, we saw a few paragliders appeared in the sky. By the time we got to the parking lot, two of them were folding their gears in the open field. We ended up picking up two of them on our way back to Wanaka. They could barely fit in the backseat with their gear on their lap. They were nice enough to show us a little bit of Glendhu Bay on the way. Both of them came from Czech almost 10 years ago, felt in love with New Zealand and decided to stay. They paraglide whenever they can. Afterwards, they just hitchhike back to Queenstown, where they call home now.
We stayed at an Airbnb for the night. Ready to take on more Mount Aspiring tomorrow.
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Trivia: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) made reference to Lake Wanaka in the movie Mission Impossible: III as the place he spent the weekend with his fiancee.
The Southern West Coast
Destinations
Today we drove from Hokitika to Haast by way of Hokitika Gorge, a total distance of about 340km.
Hokitia
Hokitika is a major stop along the coastal highway. Lots of restaurants and shops. We went to the Hokitika’s Regent Theatre for some coffee and breakfast to go. The theater is a fully refurbished 1935 art deco movie theatre. If you ever come this way, make sure to stop by the theater. If not for the classic deco, the pie at the cafe are to die for. We had a beef mushroom quiche for the road, and totally regretted that we did not pack a few more.
Hokitika Gorge and Lake Kaniere
The Hokitika Gorge is about 30 minute drive east of the town. We saw a picture of the amazing deep blue gem like water and just had to see it ourselves. Once we got there, it’s an easy short hike down to the gorge. Astonishingly, the water was not at all like the picture. The entire river was a milky torquay grey, like a stream flowing torquay colored clay. Turns out it was a flowing stream of clay, or rock flour. The area had seen some heavy rainfalls in the past few days, and the rain washed the fine powdery rock flour from the glacier into the river. Not exactly what we came to see, but still amazing.
Lake Kaniere and the Dorthy falls are not too far from the gorge. The tranquil mirror lake and the rushing water from fall were nice to see. However, relatively, this is not a must see stop of the West Coast.
Franz Josef
There are two alpine glaciers, located within Westland Tai Poutini National Park, that are accessible by short hikes, Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. Coming from the north, we stopped at the i-SITE at Franz Josef to get some information first. The trailhead is about a 10-minute drive from there. The trail is rated as easy. Franz Josef Glacial Walk is a geologist’s fantasy land. All the glacial terminology came back to me as we walked up the glacial valley. It was amazing to see the power of the nature, caving out the massive glacial valley and forming all those geological features. It was also shocking to the impact of human activities on such a great landscape.
Bruce Bay and Paringa
Southbound from Franz Josef, we stopped at a beach near Bruce Bay to catch a glimpse of the sunset. As the highway curved inland we saw fog rolled over the hill and quickly covered the small valley. When we stopped to marvel the magical scene, two horses just walked out of the fog towards us. It’s like we just walk right into the magical land of middle-earth.
