The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

A New Zealand road trip

After completing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (see previous post), Maggie and I continued south on the North Island towards New Zealand’s windy capital of Wellington.  While the city had its charms, including the Botanic Garden and some harbor-side restaurants, the three nights and two days spent in ‘windy Welly’ were sufficient.  Since we fortuitously stayed on the coast a few miles outside of the city proper, we did enjoy a great coastal hike on one of the two days.

Owhira Bay, south of Wellington. It was a great choice to stay here rather than in the city.  (Photo courtesy of Maggie)

After Wellington, we loaded the car and ourselves on the Inter Islander ferry for the 3-hour crossing of Cook Strait to Penticton on the South Island where we would stay for the rest of our road trip.  We essentially made a counter-clockwise loop, heading from the Nelson area down the West Coast to Haast where we turned inland and over the Haast Pass to the Wanaka area in Central Otago.  From there we headed south to the Catlins, near the southern tip of the South Island.  After three nights in the Catlins, we drove up the East Coast to the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch and then completed the loop over the Lewis Pass to Nelson.

Throughout it all we did a series of short hikes, with one day-long hike of Isthmus Peak between Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.  The following photos highlighting this road trip are, with the exception of the last one, in rough chronological order.

View along the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.  Day hikers on the most popular of New Zealand’s many Tracks need boat transfers to the start and/or from the end points.  (Photo courtesy of Maggie)
Fox Glacier and waterfall. Frankly, the glacier was not all that impressive, particularly since they only allowed you within 500 meters of the now-retreating glacier.  When I was here in 2009 the glacier was advancing.
Sun-dappled forest on the Monro beach walk.  It was a wonderful little excursion south of the two popular West Coast glaciers, Fox and Franz Josef.
View at Monro Beach.  We were the only ones there, unlike earlier in the day at Fox Glacier, where we competed with hundreds of other hikers.
A Fantail on the Monro Beach walk (zoom). The wonderful range of bird calls and song made this coastal rain forest hike almost magical.
Another false summit on Isthmus Peak. Rather than driving to the Rob Roy track, we climbed more than 900 meters up this peak separating Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.
Lake Wanaka from Isthmus Peak summit (looking NW) with some of the snow-covered Southern Alps in the background.
Nugget Point light, the Catlins. Driving along the Southern Scenic highway, we stopped at least six different times for short hikes over the two full days we spent in South Otago.
Nugget Point seascape. Though difficult to see in this photo, there were dozens of southern fur seals hauled out on the ledges below.
Ubiquitous Foxgloves, seen here along Jack’s Blowhole track
The Southern Ocean from Jack’s Blowhole track. I discovered that the blowhole itself is not very photogenic at low tide!
Papatowai beach, the Catlins. It was a great little beach and forest walk off of the Southern Scenic Highway.
The Vagabond Hiker at windy Slope Point, the southernmost point on the South Island
Slope Point view of the Southern Ocean
Macrocarpa Trees at Slope Point. No points for guessing which way the wind blows.  (Photo courtesy of Maggie)
Interesting tree morphology seen on the Cathedral Caves walk, the Catlins
View out to the Southern Ocean from the East entrance of Cathedral Cave. At nearly 200 meters in total length, Cathedral Cave is one of the longest sea caves in the world.
The Vagabond Hiker at McLean Falls, the most interesting easily-accessible waterfall in the area.
The end of the rainbow viewed from our place in the Catlins. We stayed on a rural farm south of Balclutha for three days over Christmas.
Summit Road view of Akaroa Bay on the Banks Peninsula southeast of Christchurch. I took several photos along Summit Road, but none was as good as this one taken by Maggie using her iphone.
Fur seals seen during our Akaroa harbor cruise on the Banks Peninsula
Standing on one of the Moeraki boulders, along the coast north of Christchurch.
With Maggie at Scott Base Winery, Cromwell, Central Otago. In case I gave the impression that it was all hiking….

I am settling in to my garden apartment in Wakefield (near Nelson) in the northern part of the South Island for the next month.  It is less than a 2-hour drive to four different national parks from here, so I hope to have a few more photos for my next (and last) blog post from New Zealand.

Happy New Year to all,

Kent

 

 

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Happy New Year!

Normally my blogs have each incorporated a variety of hikes (and a few non-hike experiences) into one post.  For this first post of 2018, I instead chose to focus on one epic hike, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.  If you do one hike on New Zealand’s North Island, it should be the Tongariro Crossing.  Truly a bucket-list hike, you will have plenty of company.  While I did not spend a lot of time with photography this day, I did capture a few of the more memorable scenes.  Enjoy!

Tongariro “Start” sign. The preferred start is the Mangatepopo Car Park, hiking generally West to East and with more descent than ascent. For once, the hike times listed were not conservative. The 20 km (12 miles) took us 7 hours, with only a few breaks.
Tongariro STOP sign. Many turned around this day as the weather was cold, misty, and windy. Be prepared for all 4 seasons on this hike, though we seemed to have missed summer…
“View” up towards the South Crater (1659 m). The hike up to the South Crater is a long, though steady, ascent.
Almost up to the South Crater, with a view back to start at Mangatepopo Car Park (1120 m). Expect lots of company, including many novice hikers.  While infuriating at times, it is good to see so many younger people getting out in nature.
The Red Crater, highest point on the crossing, at 1886 meters.
Emerald Lakes, at the bottom of a fun scree descent. The sulfurous-smelling Emerald Lakes with nearby vents are a highlight for many.  The dots on the left and just above the lake in this photo are hikers.
Misty weather at the Blue Lake, just before the main descent. Specks on the far right ridge line are hikers.
View down to Ketetahi car park and Lake Rotoaira.
In the forest below 900 m elevation, near the end at Ketetahi car park (760 m) after a long day.

Enjoy some great hikes this coming year.  My next post, in a week or so, will highlight our South Island road trip.

Kent

 

New Zealand part 1: exploring Northland

Kia ora from New Zealand!

Casual tourists to New Zealand may be forgiven for thinking that Auckland sits on the northern part of the North Island. In fact, it is a long day’s drive from the largest city in New Zealand to the Cape Reinga lighthouse, the farthest north one can get in a motorized vehicle.  Fighting through the heavy Auckland traffic the Northland beckons. Auckland encompasses more than 1/3rd of the country’s 4.7 million inhabitants, and like many conurbations, is best seen in the rear-view mirror.

Admittedly, subtropical Northland does not have the dramatic landscapes of the Southern Alps; the land is predominantly rolling hill country, more than half of which is taken up with farming, ranching and forestry. It is bounded to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. I spent a week exploring this verdant land and impossibly blue water on the cusp of the austral summer, but could easily have stayed until the autumn.  With daytime temps in the 70’s, nights in the low 60’s, 15 hours of daylight, and lots of intense sun, one couldn’t ask for better hiking or sailing weather in December!

I hope these photos will help you think warm thoughts during this Christmas season.

A view along the Mt Manaia track, located only a couple of miles from Kiwi Cottage where I stayed. I never did see a Northern Island brown Kiwi as they are nocturnal.
View South from Mt Manaia on Whangarei Heads
Mt Manaia at sunset from the Kiwi Cottage
Smuggler’s Cove, Bream Head Reserve, about 4 miles from my cottage.  I was the only one here on this beautiful Friday afternoon: the 15 minute walk must have been enough to deter others (either that or they had to work!)
Popularly known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, Pohutukawa blooms in December. This impressive specimen is at Smuggler’s Cove in the Bream Head Reserve.
A New Zealand Moorhen (Pukeko) at Bream Head Reserve (zoom)
Peach Cove beach, Bream Head Reserve. The hour walk over a steep ridge discouraged all but the most intrepid beach-goers.
A view along the Peach Cove track. There were more than 1000 stairs down to the cove. The ascent on the return hike was a good cardio workout.
An interesting tree along the Peach Cove track
The Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) Kauri, the largest in New Zealand by volume. Sadly, most of the Kauris were logged out in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Te Matua Ngahere, the Father of the Forest. The second largest Kauri in New Zealand, it is nearly 55 feet in circumference. It is in the Waipoua Kauri Forest near the West coast, along with Tane Mahuta and many other massive Kauris. This photo is stitched together from three.
Kauri bark detail
The R. Tucker Thompson in port, Russell NZ. This 85 ft schooner is used much of the year for youth development, but summertime tourists help defray the operating costs.
The Tucker Thompson anchored for lunch on an uninhabited island in the aptly named Bay of Islands, in December and January the summer playground for much of Auckland.
The famous Hole in the Rock from the Tucker Thompson
Some of the Tucker Thompson’s press of sail. In the afternoon all eight sails on this gaff-rigged schooner were set.
The view from up in the rigging. None of the other 20 tourists climbed above the deck.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the Kiwi series of blog posts.

The Vagabond Hiker

Categories

Subscribe for Updates