03/07/2010, Wanaka
We have found the perfect place. Wanaka, New Zealand - Bug free and stunningly beautiful!
The plans to hike on the Heaphy track was dramtically aborted after our first camping attempt. Everyone had warned us (and continues to) that the bugs are bad on the West Coast, but we naively thought "there have been bugs on all these tramps, how bad can it really be?" We pitched tents at a spectacular beach under wind swept pines in front of the crashing surf and had just started thinking about lunch when the sand flies first arrived. They sent out scouts that were immediately followed by waves of insects that looked like blowing fog as they swept up the beach at us. We were wearing long pants and jackets but they still swarmed up pant legs and settled all over any exposed skin on the face, neck and hands. It was almost funny to see us speed walking around waving our arms frantically followed by a dark cloud like a bad cartoon, until you looked closely and saw that there were dozens of insects covering every square inch of clothing. We retreated to the car, snatched the tents and have camped away from the beach since then. We did brave the bugs and managed one lovely day walk along the first leg of the Heaphy trail and it was spectacular country with the waves rolling off the Tasman sea and crashing onto the coast.
Since then we have been wandering down the W. Coast, visited a couple of glaciers, stood on vistas looking out at Antarctica, and are now hiking on mountains in the center of the S. Island. The west coast gets an unbelievable volume of rain but the rain is exhausted crossing the mountain ranges and in the center of the island there is an area that gets 2000 hours of sunshine year and only 20 inches of rain. We are hiking from mountain lakes up spectacular glacier topped mountain ranges in every direction and it is blissfully bug free.
Next is a multi-day trek in the mountains and then on to Milford Sound.
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Comments [4]
02/22/2010, South Island, New Zealand
Wow, New Zealand's most popular trek for good reason!
5 days of coastal walking along miles of golden sand beaches,
spectacular coastlines, swimming in crystal clear water with blue
penguins, seals and seal pups, sunshine and more sunshine. We even
managed to find ourselves all alone in out of the way camp sites right
on the beach.
It is now time to recuperate for a couple of days. We feasted on
piles of crusty meat pies for lunch and will be hitting the aquatic
center to rinse the kids this afternoon.
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02/22/2010, South Island
Day thirty: Have covered over 100 miles on foot and plan progressing.
Crew is openly bemoaning fate and yearning for comforts aboard the
boat. Hearing increasing hints that if back afloat they
would never complain at all. Documenting for use in future,
if necessary.
Must go, they are looking at me again!
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02/16/2010, S. Island
We love New Zealand! Mary was chatting with a charming older couple
in Picton and they invited us to stay with them in their Bach (New
Zealand for "shore side holiday home"). Later that day we were
enjoying local wine and the best meal we have eaten in months in their
glass fronted hill top home looking down on the marina and a
spectacular view down the sound where we would be camping for the next
week. It was tough for us to leave to catch the ferry to the trail
head the next day.
The Queen Charlotte track starts at Ships Cove, where Captain Cook
based his exploration of the S. Island and winds for 75 kilometers
along wind swept mountain ridges and down into deep blue bays and
fjords. The second day we had a real treat as we were dragging
ourselves along the the final stretch of what was turning into a 9
hour day of hiking and recognized another cruising family at anchor in
the bay below us. They have three kids and we were overjoyed to find
them waiting for us at the beach. They had just completed a month of
camping and knew exactly what we needed: cold drinks, dinner and
to spend the night on the boat in a real bed and away from the bugs.
Love Them! There is a trend developing here of people looking at us
and then asking if we need a break from camping for a day, hmmmm.
Highlights from the trek included having almost all of the ridge top
camp sites to ourselves, winds so strong we had to drag the kids along
one mountain side, and glow worms. Glow worms are the most amazing
little creatures, at night soft dirt banks along the streams are lit
with what looks like hundreds of tiny blue Christmas lights. The
bioluminescence is used to attract their prey and it is amazing
to see tiny light shows scattered about in the complete darkness
of the rainforest-like jungle.
We are booked on the Abel Tasman Great Walk along the coastline in the
Abel Tasman National Park starting tomorrow. This is reported to be a
beautiful and fairly easy walk through some of the S. Islands most
spectacular beach areas.
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02/07/2010, Picton, New Zealand
Yesterday we traveled to the S. Island of New Zealand, via a three hour passage on the inter-island ferry. Mary's continuing passage angst was not helped by the sight of an ancient and decrepit looking ship with distinctive rust stripes as it pulled in to pick us up, but we had a very smooth trip crossing the Cook Straights and weaving through the breathtaking Marlborough Sound.
Last night was wild with a big Southerly gale funneling down the valley and through the camp site, flattening our neighbors tent during the night. Tomorrow morning we are taking the water taxi to the start of the Queen Charlotte Track which will take us 4-5 days to complete.
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02/03/2010, North Island
The 4malones are very foot sore but happy to have completed their first trek.
We walked for the last 4 days on the Northern Circuit in the Tongariro
National Park. For Lord of the Rings fans, this is where the movie
was set and filmed and the trek took us all the way around "Mt Doom". This is probably the most specular natural scenery that we have
visited; barren stretches of lava strewn moon scape with boulders
of pumice light as styrofoam and knife edged ridges dropping into
volcanic craters and steaming vents. We stayed in the shelters / huts
and were glad as the second day a sudden mountain storm swept in
packing gale force winds and over an inch and half of rain. We holed
up and played cards and then then covered the last three legs in two
days of hard walking carefully watching out dwindling food supplies.
The Tongariro national park is designated a World Heritage Site, this
recognizes amazing geographic and cultural standouts such as the
Pyramids, Grand Canyon, and Pompeii in Italy. It is that amazing.
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