Our last day of this trip actually involved no hiking. We were allowed to sleep in, until 7:15. After breakfast, we boarded a boat for a scenic cruise of Milford Sound. The weather this morning was almost perfect, if you like spectacular vistas of mountains and water. The next 3 photos were taken before we […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
It rains a lot in southwestern New Zealand. The moist air blowing off of the Tasman Sea hits the high mountains we have been walking through and, at times the water is said to come down as if from a fire hose. The Arthur River watershed averages 7 m (about 22 feet) of rain a […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
WARNING: This post is long and has LOTS of pictures. Day 3 of the hike is what makes the Milford Track famous. The Milford Track has a reputation of being the best hike in the world, a distinction that apparently began with an article by the New Zealand poet Blanche Baughan published by the London […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
Note to readers: Several of you have noted that you could not post comments because of a permissions problem. Nina has now fixed that. Your comments are most definitely welcome! Today we have our first real hike. It is ten miles long but not particularly hard since the track is generally quite good and we […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
Most of the first day of our trip was spent getting from Queenstown to the starting point of the hike in southwest or Fjordland section of the South Island. After meeting the rest of the group and three of our four guides – Kevin, the head guide, Amy, and Nabu – we boarded a bus […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
Not many pictures or much to say today. We finished the drive to Queenstown. Queenstown is a “destination”; a place to which people come from around the world both for its beautiful lake setting, surrounded by majestic mountains, and for skiing in the winter and extreme sports in the summer – apparently Queenstown is where […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
We need to be in Queenstown Sunday afternoon to get ready to leave for the Milford Track hike Monday morning. Because the drive from Hokitika to Queenstown is 9-10 hours, we decided to take it in a more leisurely two days by stopping in Haast, the last town accessible from the main highway on the […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
Crossing the continental divide at Arthur’s Pass we drove to Greymouth on the Tasman Sea (the suburb of the Pacific Ocean shared by New Zealand and Australia). The drive across the pass was on a dramatic alpine highway. You can see the one chute that channels a creek over the road and the larger avalanche […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
Another day of very few words — but this time many more pictures. Why are there mountains? So that we can climb them of course. Today our objective was Avalanche Peak, which rises above Arthur’s Pass Village. I had been worried about this day, because I had read that, although the weather may be fine […]
Also posted in New Zealand |
No long essays today! We left the Banks Peninsula and drove to Arthur’s Pass Village. There is a range of high mountains that form the spine running down the center of most of the South Island of New Zealand. That they are called the “Southern Alps” might give you the impression that there are few […]
Also posted in New Zealand |