miscellaneous rambling

The last walk we did was the Routeburn Track. This is also in National Geographic’s top 10, and also considered within the UN World heritage Site’s list. This track was shorter, only 33km, and we did it in 3 days.

The paths are rougher, and a bit more technical, but relatively easy. We had the most amazing weather though. From the top of a point called Conical Hill, we had a 360 degree view of all of the mountains and the Hollyford Valley. We could see the valley right out to the Tasman sea, and there was not a cloud in the sky. ( sidenote: It was Easter Sunday )

The trail is mostly above the treeline, which means that there are greatviews of the Southern Alps and the Darrin Mts. Throughout most of the trail.

For our group, it was a better track than the even more famous Milford track that we had done.

In a nutshell, we felt that Milford was good for it’s clear waters, and Routeburn was good for it’s mountain views.

Again, we booked a year in advance for the trek.

ueenstown is very beautiful. It’s like Banff in Canada, but besides the mountains, there is also a huge lake next to it. I would like to have spent some time around this town.

My fondest memory of this place was taking the gondola up to see the views, and more importantly the great buffet they had up there.

Subsisting on camping food, and/or simple sandwiches while living from hostel to hostel, this was the one day that we could really let go, and eat. Also, the group ate at Chinese restaurants when time didn’t permit cooking. So for me, this was especially a treat because I can’t stand eating Chinese food when I’m not in Asia or back home.

Anyways, I won’t go into details about the food and my impressions of eating while travelling. I thought I’d just put a pic up of Queenstown.

~ on another note though, the most annoying thing about Queenstown is that it’s full of tourists. My opinion is stay in the parks, or just admire the views. Walking around town is quaint, but only for about an hour before the other tourists start annoying you.

There was a corner within the Mt. Cook Youth Hostel that had some interesting quotes regarding travel. Occasionally one sees / reads similar ones, but I had never seen them put together in a nice, and permanent way. Also I liked how one could see it if looking for it, but otherwise it was discreet, and not in your face.

One of the most interesting areas of NZ is the town of Rotorua. This is an ancestral home of the Maori people. Even today, most of the countries Maori people live in this area.

The Earth’s crust is also very thin here. One of the thinnest places on earth in fact.

As a result, all through the area one can find geothermal activity. Everything from geyers, to mud pools, to just sulfur steam popping up everywhere.

In fact, there are areas which are relatively new. Just one day, BOOM, smoke and steam and sulfur comes bursting through the road, and then… you have another area which has constant visible activity.

The Milford Track is one of the most famous hiking trails in the world. Considered top 10 by National Geographic, and one of the 3 trails that we hiked in NZ. Our trip was actually designed for trekkers, and we all had a fair bit of hiking experience. Some of the members had climbed in other countries around the world, and some had climbed the top 100 mountains of Taiwan. ( which are taller than Mt. Cook ~ but no snow )

We booked a YEAR in advance, to get placement for this trail. It’s limited to only 40 people/day.

I was under the impression that we’d be hiking within the Milford Fjord ( Milford Sound), but in fact, the 54km ( 33mi.) trek was within the mountains, and the endpoint was Milford Sound.

You might wonder why I post a picture of the Sound, and not the trail itself. Well, to be honest, I enjoyed the trail a lot. The scenery was beautiful, and the water was incredibly pure. I drank from the rivers there all the time. The water was very sweet. ( literally )

But I don’t know if I would rank it as very spectacular. I have seen many views all over the world that are equally as beautiful. Some right in the Canadian rockies at home.

The Milford Sound though, was great. It was the first time I have seen a fjord, and one major reason why I was in NZ.

However, the fjordland national park ( we did A LOT of national parks ) rains at least 2 out of 3 days in the year. Incredible amounts of rain. So of course, we had a cloudy, and somewhat rainy day when we were at the fjord.

I won’t complain though, because during the trek we had good weather, with minimal rain. Also, after we finished, and did a boat cruise around Milford Sound, the rain came down in torrents. We were able to be safely within the lodge by that time. I would say that timing was good.

Ok, more LOTR notes here. When Gandalf and the rest go underground into the Mines of Moria, they in fact, go into Mt. Cook National park. Mt. Cook at (about) 3700m is the highest peak in NZ, and is also where Sir Edmund Hillary regulary climbed in his training for Everest.

On the 2 days I was here, I didn’t think of LOTR, as much as I did about Hillary. Every step I took I wondered where he walked, and if I was walking in the same place. Where was the trailhead up the peak? Where was his camp?

The mountain park is very beautiful, and the Youth Hostel in which we stayed at ( we were always in a youth hostel or a mountain hut ) was nice as well. Very relaxed feel at being right under the shadow of the mountain.

Just coming back from my trip to New Zealand, I have to say that my most memorable days were of mountains and seas. This post is from the first.
This is the World heritage site, Tongariro National Park on the North Island of New Zealand.
More specificially, it's a shot of Mt. Ngaurahoe,which most people ( fans of LOTR at least), will know as Mt. Doom.

I tried to make notes of all LOTR film locations, but I realized that unless I spent some money on a few books, it just wasn't going to be worth the time to do it online. ~ and I didn't want to buy the books.

BUT, this was one place I knew was from the movie, and plus that fact that it's a world heritage site, and then that it's just simply amazing for it's scenery makes it all and all one of the top days in kiwiland.

Of course, Mt. Doom looks different in the day and when it's not done up with computer effects. I was still at least hoping for a bit more similarity to be honest. A bit more darkness, and smoke. But in fact, we had the best weather that day, and the clouds did clear occasionally, so that if you were patient, and looking carefully, you could get a shot of the clear volcano top.

Many people have asked me how my trip was into Middle Earth, as well as other LOTR refrences. I didn't see any LOTR fanatics there, and I was one of the few in my party who had even read the books or seen the movies. And to answer once again, no, I didn't see any hobbits or orcs. I would have loved to have seen a Nazgul flying over Mt. Doom though. Of course, I"d probably not be able to be writing this now then..