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Travels
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We spent a month in NZ
in February and March 2006. We spent most of the time on the South Island.
If you click on "Photos" on the right, you can see some of our pictures
of each section of the trip.
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We flew into Auckland, then down to Christchurch, where we visited
Martin's cousin Burn in Christchurch. We then travelled by rental car to Dunedin,
stopping to see the penguins at Oamaru (no photos, they're shy). Then we took
the Taieri Gorge Railway inland, and a bus from the railway to Queenstown. Queenstown
is the centre of bungee jumping, and all the other masochistic activities that
kiwis indulge in. For us, a steamer trip on the lake was enough.
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From Queenstown, we hiked in the mountains
for 6 days. We took a guided hike - a soft option which allowed us to stay and
eat each night in comfortable lodges (with hot showers), and avoided the need
to carry food with us. Our route was over the Greenstone Track, and then the Routeburn
Track.
The group we went with was a mix of Brits, Australians, New Zealanders
and Americans, 18 people in all, plus 4 kiwi guides. Susan distinguished herself
by being last every day, but it was nice for her to have a private guide - the
one at the back who made sure no-one got lost.
The scenery was spectacular,
and we were lucky to have fine weather for most of the hike. After the trip, the
guides told us that it was as fine as that on only about 15% of the hikes they
led.
New Zealand was where the Lord of the Rings was filmed, and a lot
of the country looks primeval. We hiked through forests of tree ferns, which looked
like home to tribes of orcs. Red lichen looked like orcs' blood. The country was
not visited by humans until 1,000 years ago, and retains a lot of its original
vegetation. The kiwis are careful to avoid accidental importation of foreign plants
- we had to have our boots cleaned before they let us into the country.
| Photos
| Back in Queenstown, we picked
up a rental car, and drove to Te Anau. From there we drove to Milford Sound, in
the fjordland of the west coast. In fact we drove twice to Milford Sound. The
first day was wet, and the cliffsides were sheets of water. Next day was fine,
and the same cliffsides were dry. We took a boat trip through the Sound to the
Tasman Sea.
| | We drove south from Milford
Sound to the south coast. We stayed at Bluff - NZ's "Land's End", facing
the Southern Ocean where the winds blow non-stop from Antarctica.
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Then we headed up to Westland, the west coast
of the South Island. The main attractions there are the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers,
and views of Mount Cook, NZ's highest mountain.
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From Picton on the north coast, we took the
ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington on the North Island.
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We spent a week on the North Island, visiting
Maori villages, geysers, volcanoes and the dramatic coast of the Coromandel Peninsula.
| | While on the North Island,
we hiked the Tongariro Crossing, a tough one-day hike over a volcano or two. The
day started fine, but the weather turned nasty at the top - swirling mists and
wind.
We ended up in Auckland, and flew back to the US from there.
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