I once saw an article on a trail
called the Routeburn Track in a travel magazine. It was a 4-5 day long trek across
the southern alps of New Zealand and seemingly one of those “once in a lifetime”
deals that, according to the author, left you wanting to come back again and
again and do all the other tracks and stay in all the amazing huts along the
way. Now that I’ve done it I can only agree. The moment I left New Zealand, I
couldn’t wait to get back. I’ve become a hut-bagger.
We left in February 2016, so early fall Downunder,
and started with a few days
acclimatizing to Kiwi culture in Christchurch. Not that long before, the
city
had been hit by a severe earthquake that had devastated many of the
older
buildings and, since many of the developers were still fighting with
their
insurance companies, a sense of quiet resignation still presided over
what must
have been a busy place before. Ever the innovative Kiwis, however, some
of the
restaurants that had been damaged in the quake had reopened but were now
housed
in remodeled and very quake-proof shipping containers. We visited the
beautiful
and extensive botanical garden, took the Christchurch Gondola to the top
of Port Hill, and stayed in a nice little hostel near the city
center.
View from gondola near Christchurch |
Lunch at Travis Wetland |
If the budget allows, I recommend
getting a car in New Zealand. Towns on the south island can be few and far
between but, more importantly, you will want to stop every 10 miles to take
pictures! New Zealand is as varied and exciting as it is beautiful. The people
are kind and welcoming and the driving is easy, once you get used to doing it
on the left side.
Traffic jam - Kiwi style |
From Christchurch we started
inland towards Arthur’s Pass with the goal of eventually landing on the west coast. The drive meandered over
rolling hills and farmlands, and fortunately passed by many small coffee houses
selling some truly exquisite meat pies. After stocking up on road trip food at
Sheffield Pie Shop's heavenly lamb pies and seeing the
giant pink donut that had been erected for a Simpson’s event, we stopped at
Castle Hill and had a nice hike to the odd rock formations.
The drive across Artur’s Pass
landed us on the West Coast at Kumara Junction from where we headed south and
made a stop for lunch on the beach in Hokitika, a funky little seaside town
that hosts a driftwood sculpture festival every January and still had a number
of leftover pieces on the sand.
We continued along the coast, passing marshes
and wetlands and very few other cars, and ended at the small town of Franz
Josef. The town is aptly named for the nearby 7.5 mile long Franz Josef Glacier (Māori name is Kā
Roimata o Hine Hukatere), located in the Westland Tai Poutini
National Park, which descends from the Southern Alps to less than 980 feet
above sea level. Quite an unusual sight to see a glacier from a temperate rain forest.
We checked into Sir Cedric’s
Chateau, a nice little backpacker hostel in the center of town. The hostel has
good connections with several tour companies that run walking and helicopter
trips to the glacier. Since it was my birthday the following day, we decided to
splurge on a helicopter and glacier walk trip with Franz Josef Glacier Guides –
after all, how often do you get to spend your birthday on a glacier in New
Zealand? Once in a lifetime experience - check! We opted for the tour that let
you spend the longest time on the ice as well, oddly not the most expensive
one. Since we had the afternoon free, we went on a short hike across the river
that forms the outlet of the glacier with view of the ice in the distance and
there were also a couple of nice forest walks in that area. The main street is
pleasant, has a number of small tourist shops and some good restaurants.
The tour was amazing. I’ve never
flown in a helicopter before and, since I was the smallest passenger, I got to
sit next to the pilot. Awesome! He flew the length of the glacier, bottom to
top, and landed up about ¾ of the way up in the middle of the ice on a small
section just big enough for a single helicopter. Our guide explained about the
dangers and precautions to take on the ice. We were outfitted with jackets and
pants that made us easily recognizable to the guides, and emergency kits and
poles. The ice of a glacier shifts all the time and at times the guide had to
dig in new steps since the previous day’s steps were already unusable. We spent
a good two hours on the ice and saw the occasional piece break off with a
resounding crash, and it still felt like it was over too soon. What an amazing
experience.
The last day in Franz Josef we
rented a kayak from Okarito Nature Tours and spent half the day paddling around
Okarito lagoon. It was beautiful and frequented by an abundance of wading and
marshland birds. I’d highly recommend this trip for anyone who likes kayaking and/or birds.
They rent for half and full day at a very reasonable price.
It was time to continue
on the
southbound journey. We passed Fox Glacier a bit outside Franz Josef and
were
able to take a few pictures from afar, made a brief stop for a short
hike in
Haast to the blue pools but the trail had been washed out and closed. We
did, however, stop outside of Haast for a taste of the famous
whitebait-on-toast...
White Bait - Queen of Tiny Delicious Fishes |
The road
headed inland then and into the Southern Alps where sheep dotted the hillsides
and were eventually replaced with mountain lakes and steep slopes. Lake Wanaka
and Lake Hawea are the largest and we made a quick stop in Wanaka for meat pie
lunch. A second stop at Queenstown Hill had great views of the mountains and
our first peak of the town itself far below.
We arrived in Queenstown,
adventure capital of the South Island, and checked into Sir Cedric’s
Bungi Backpackers. Good place with very nice people in a quiet neighborhood
about 10-15 min walk from the pier, where most of the restaurants and tourist
shops are located. Our primary goal for Queenstown was that it is the hub for
starting the Routeburn Track. Since I had already made reservations for the
four huts along the route, all we had to do was pick up the permit at the
Department of Conservation office in town. The DOC might well be the most well
organized government office in the world – they are in charge of creating and
maintaining the majority of New Zealand’s trails and wilderness huts and are
doing an absolutely stellar job, in addition to being the primary authority on
eradication of non-native species vermin, i.e. the scores of stoats and rats
that continue to decimate the country’s native birds. I cannot say enough good
things about this organization. The fee for staying in the huts goes to the
conservation program, trail maintenance and hut upkeep – all good things.
Queenstown is a busy tourist and
backpacker hub for all things adventure. Leaving the bungy jumping to the
younger crowd, we instead took the gondola to the Skyline complex overlooking Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables
range and did the Lower Ridge Hike. The views were spectacular and the
restaurant that’s part of the Skyline outfit is pretty good.
The Routeburn Track starts at
Routeburn Shelter. We had made arrangements with Easy Hike Car Relocation to
relocate our car so it would be waiting for us on the other side of the
mountains. It was not cheap, about $260 NZ, but actually came out to about the
same if we took the shuttle service and also did not waste a whole day of
back-tracking so it was totally worth it. The track itself was spectacular. It
passes through several climate and vegetation zones so there was always
something new to discover. Some sections were easier than others and the
weather turned a bit at Harris Saddle one evening, aka torrents of rain that
created new waterfalls down the mountainsides (it was fantastic to watch from
the shelter of the MacKenzie Falls hut), but the following morning the sun was
out again. All the huts were outfitted with bunk beds and mattresses and the
kitchen had gas stoves so we just had to bring sleeping bags and cooking gear
(and matches - they are not self-lighting). No food was available en route or
at the huts but that was easy enough to carry, and there was a ranger at each
hut to answer any questions and check us in. They also gave some very
informative lectures on the conservation program. We made several good friends
and met the most amazing people, including a 75 year old Kiwi lady, who had
done the track five times!
Enough words about how amazing
this trek was – the pictures say it all :)
While we were still clean... |
Picnic shelter at Harris Saddle |
Having crossed the saddle |
It was a bit of an
eye opener to encounter the native Kea, a chicken sized mountain parrot that
will molest anything not tied down,
and some that is. I had read about them but seeing them in action was sheer
delight. On the first night they were trying to unwind the weather stripping on
the hut’s skylight and when that didn’t work, they went for the hiking poles
and boots left outside. After that first day, nothing was left to chance…
Lake MacKenzie hut |
Five days later, and in
need of a good scrubbing, we came out on the other side where our car
was waiting. Then it was on to see Milford Sound and lunch at the little
cafe.
Sunset at Howden Hut |
Milford Sound on a rather cloudy day |
I had booked a hostel in
Te Anau, which came with a shower and a cat we named Fluffy. It's a
quite little town and the jumping off point to a glow worm cave. We did a
boat tour the next day to the cave, where you are obviously not allowed
to take pictures but it was very neat to see the threads of glow worm slime draped across the cave ceiling like Christmas garlands. Te Anau also has a bird
sanctuary sporting the rare flightless takahē, also prominently features as the town mascot...
The real bird |
The fake bird |
We
did a section of the Kepler Track, because we just hadn't done enough
hiking lately, before heading south to sleepy Tuatapere. Even smaller
than Te Anau, Tuatapere's claim to fame is being the Sausage Capital of
the South Island and I'd have to agree. The restaurant at the Last Light
Lodge where we also stayed in motel-like accommodations had the best venison sausage I've ever
had, putting a whole new spin on bangers n' mash.
Chilling at Last Light Lodge where all the food was superb |
Hiking in Bluff |
On
our last day in Tuatapere we drove south and hiked a section of the
Hump Ridge Track that runs along the ocean, then continued the journey
to Bluff. We overnighted at the Bluff Lodge, a quirky old place, and
took the ferry to Stewart Island the following morning. Fortunately the
ocean was completely calm and the crossing was lovely - rumors have it
it's a brutal trip if it's windy!
Bluff wall art |
Stewart
Island is a pretty amazing place. The main town is Oban, which has a
handful of good restaurants - one being Kai Kart where the fried blue
cod sandwiches are to die for.
It's
a pretty walkable island. Since it was still early in the day, we
walked to Golden Bay and took the tiny ferry to Ulva Island for a 3 hour
guided birding tour. Ulva is tiny but is unique in that it has an
abundance of birds on account of it being rid of stoats and rats. There
were birds everywhere, though some were hard to see, but the guide was
quick to find and name them.
NZ Parakeet
Bit of a sleeping morepork owl |
The
next day we did a nice hike along the water that ended up at Horseshoe
Bay. The water was so blue it felt like a tropical island despite it's
very southern location (about 2500 km from Antarctica). We stopped at
Moturau Garden on the way back, which has a nice collection of native
trees and plants but based on British garden design.
Stewart Island sunset |
The following day we left the island, after having seen the
penguin the night before again, and picked up the car in Bluff. Next
stop was Waipapa Lighthouse. It was very pretty but the best part was
the undoubtedly the fur seals. Bit of a fight between a young and an old
male over a female (naturally). It was quite a thing to see.
While things were still dignified... |
And then the other male arrived |
The old one won in the end and we moved on, leaving the couple
in peace. Next stop along the south coast was Curio Beach and then
Porpoise Beach to see the petrified logs that reach far into the ocean
and have lunch.
Overnighting at Tautuku Forest Cabin in the Catlins. |
The aptly named Nuggets |
The ever-present and usually sleeping fur seals |
Dunedin
is a lovely town originally settled by Scots, quite
evident in the architecture. We visited long lost relatives on my
husband's side of the family, who took us around town to see, among
other things, the local stadium and Speights for lunch. Speights is the
local claim-to-fame beer and is very good. We had already booked
accommodations
at Penguin Place on the end of the Otago Peninsula, which is a penguin
conservation center for the yellow-eyed penguin - and a photographer's
paradise.
Also on the Otago Peninsula is the Albatross Center but
unfortunately it was too foggy to see the birds. Instead we took a dusk
tour from the Center to see the little blue or fairy penguins (eudyptula minor) and were not
disappointed as they came hopping out of the ocean with nightfall.
The following day we did an early morning tour from Penguin
Place of the yellow-eyed penguins (megadyptes antipodes) or hoiho in Maori, walking through bunkers to hide our
size (when they can only see half your face, they are not scared since
they think you're really small). It was thrilling to see them close up
and, unlike the fairy penguins, they prefer daylight. The afternoon was
spent wandering the beautiful English gardens around Larnach Castle.
Young female yellow-eyed penguin |
Fjordland penguin at Penguin Place |
Dunedin is full of art and very fond of penguins.
On the last day on the peninsula, we took the Taieri Gorge Rail Tour to Pukerangi aboard a beautiful old train. The trip meanders along on rickety rails with great views of the gorge and Taieri River far below.
From Dunedin we drove north to see the Moeraki Boulders. Maori
legends say the boulders are the remains of eel baskets that were washed
ashore from the wreck of a large sailing canoe; geologists say they are
septarian concretions exhumed from the mudstone enclosing them and
concentrated on the beach by coastal erosion. Whichever you chose to
believe, they are a sight to see.
Our last stop was Mt. Cook. The drive alone was worth it but even better was our hike up to Mueller Hut. The town is sort of an adventure village set in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and houses a large hostel and a number of chalets. Mt. Cook is the highest peak in New Zealand and where Sir Edmund Hillary trained for his climbing of Everest. It's a beautiful setting in any event with lots of trails and, most importantly, a chance to bag Mueller Hut.
For the bargain price of about $30 NZ, you get to scale the
Sealy Range and overnight at the 36 bunk bed hut, elevation 1800 meters,
and enjoy views of ice cliffs, glaciers and the spectacular rock that
is Mt. Cook. Fabulous, had to do this. I had made reservations as space
is limited, and after having spent the afternoon and evening checking
out the area, picking up our permit from the DOC office, and cooking
lamb in the communal kitchen of the hostel, we awoke to clear skies. In
other words, a perfect day to scale a mountain!
Midway point - time for pics and lunch |
And the trail is where...? |
Made it! |
The remotely located hut |
Kea paparazzi |
The bathroom |
The luxurious overnight accommodations :) |
Tent? Not a good idea. This bunch was systematically picking apart the seams all through the evening. |
Sunset over Mt. Cook |
and not a bad sunrise either.
Leaving the park and heading homewards... |
... after just one more lamb pie!
|
Time to go home and start saving up for the next one. Hope you enjoyed the journey!
If you're planning a trip to NZ and have questions I can possibly answer, feel free to email me or comment on this post.
Itinerary and hostels:
Christchurch – Foley Towers
Franz Josef – Sir Cedric’s Chateau
Queenstown – Sir Cedric’s Bungi Backpackers
Routeburn Track:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/fiordland/places/fiordland-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/routeburn-track/
Te Anau – Te Anau Backpackers
Tuatapere – Last Light Lodge
Bluff – Bluff Lodge
Steward Island – Stewart Island Backpackers
Catlins - Tautuku Forest Cabins on Lenz Reserve
Otaga – Penguin Place
Aoraki Mt. Cook NP – Mt. Cook Backpacker Lodge & Mueller Hut
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