Fiordland expedition Part One

On perhaps our last chance for more than a quick weekend away form work, Carolyn and I headed down to the Fiordland National Park. They do spell it that way. Anyways, it was perhaps the glaciers and Milford Sound that were so spectacular on our trip 26 years ago that called us back here. Our trip this time certainly exceeded all my expectations. Our friends the Fellows had recommended an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, one of the bigger fiords that can be accessed without too much difficulty. To get to Doubtful you take a 45 minute boat ride across Lake Manapouri and then a bus, our in our case an old rattly van, across the 22 KM Wilmot Pass gravel road to Deep Cove, population One person. We decided to go on a small boat run By Fiordland expeditions and it was a great choice. The boat was rather small, it had a capacity of maybe 12 guests and two crew though there were only 5 guests this time as it is the off season here. The fiord itself was stunning
With beautiful glacier carved cliffs covered in rainforest and crystal clear water. As we were out for the whole day, and overnight and much of the second day, we had a chance to explore all the different arms of the fiord.
But it was not just scenery, we stopped and went fishing for blue cod for our dinner and the young woman crew member went diving for fresh lobster as well.

The wildlife was great, with albatross to add to our bird sightings and Fur seals hanging out. Most remarkably were the dolphins, a pod of about 60 live in the Fiord and they get a kick out of bow surfing the boat. Several dolphins at a time would cruise right up under the bow and surf there for minutes at a time. Occasionally they would roll onto their side and look right up at us. It was spectacular.

We spent a very quiet night up at the end of one of the arms of the fiord. It was still as can be and the morning was so quiet, literally we felt at the end of the earth. The fiord was a perfect mirror for the cliff towering above. While it was so still we did some kayaking around a small island.
One the Island we also spotted another new bird for us, the Kaka , a lowland parrot, smaller than the Kea. I confess, this picture of a Kaka came from the recovery center in Te Anau, the ones on the fiords we could not photograph without a camera on our kayaks.
I know I sound a little enthusiastic about the trip but it really was something special. If you visit New Zealand you just need a couple days out of Queenstown to do a trip like this and you might not want to miss it.

Stunning Blue Water and Milk

Last Saturday we awoke to pounding rain, sheets of water cascading down. It is still a novelty for Coloradoans to experience drenching rain, and rather nice to watch from inside. We had a weekend get away planned however, so after a quick trip to the gym and a bit of dawdling, we  were off. Within twenty minutes of leaving, the rain stopped and blue sky appeared- perfect timing. 

We were off to the Hokitika area south of Westport and went by Punakiki again where the rainstorm had caused high seas and the blowholes were quite dramatic. We continued on to our destination of Kumara, a tiny town of 320 people, a few kilometers in from the coast on the Alpine highway. Like many towns here Kumara was once a busy gold rush town with four banks and 2 hotels.
We stayed in the recently restored Theatre Royal Hotel, which in its heyday hosted performers from the world over including the London Circus.

The interior of the hotel reflected the original Victorian sensibility. We were then only overnight guests though the bar and dining room were hopping. Our 

waiter told us they had served 80 people the night before. We continue to be amazed when we find these out of the way spots seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

The next morning we drove through beautiful farm land up to the base of the Alps and the Hokitika Gorge. The beautiful blue color is from glacial rock powder suspended in the water. 

Though there are many more sheep in New Zealand than cows, the dairy industry is by far the largest export industry, it over took sheep 25 years ago. Dairy is huge, though comes with a cost and quite a debate here, cows require much more resources and produce much more waste.

The North Island has the bulk of the dairy farms but it is huge on the South Island as well. Fonterra is a huge national cooperative that is a virtual monopoly on dairy here, most of what we buy in the stores are Fonterra products, though the bulk of exports are in the form of milk powder that goes to Asia. Hokitika has one of the few remaining independent                    dairy Producers, Westland.

Imagine having to drive the Coast Highway with these milk trucks, not to mention the mining trucks, sharing the narrow road and the frequent one lane bridges.

Coast Highway Point Elizabeth

Queen Charlotte Track, part 2

After a great meal and healthy breakfast at Mahana Lodge, we were off on day #2 of our tramp on the QCT.  There were 24.5 kilometers to conquer before we were at the next lodge, and I was a bit apprehensive.  Of course, Mahana Lodge was at sea level, so the first 30 minutes of walking was straight up a hill, and then we continued uphill but at a lesser grade.  The day was spent walking the hilly ridge of the peninsula, with Queen Charlotte Sound to our south and Kenepuru Sound to our north. 

Here is our first glimpse of Kenepuru Sound, very pastoral and beautiful.  We spent the day climbing up and down on the ridgeline you see in the left of the photo, and at the end of the day, we could look back and spot the farm we had initially seen, way at the end of the sound.  

Along the way, we stopped to eat delicious lunches we carried from Mahana Lodge, and we found a group of like-paced travelers: we passed them when they were taking a break, and then they would pass us, and we began to recognize faces.  Overall, there was less traffic than the day before, as day hikers were not on this segment.  The high point of the climb was 420 meters, then we went down a bit, only to go back to 404 meters.  Finally, we reached the turnoff to the Portage Bay Hotel, our destination for the night, and down we walked, back to sea level.  It was great to take off our hiking boots, enjoy the view from our room. and have a cold beer.  Yes, there were cars;  it seems most people DROVE to the resort, but we saw several familiar faces from the track in the bar and the restaurant.

We woke on day #3 to the sound of rain, lots of steady rain.  We were prepared though, wrapped our cameras in plastic and put on our raincoats.   Today, the hotel drove all the trekkers up 200 meters to meet the track, so we only had the second 200 meters to the top of the ridge to climb.  I was definitely slower on day #3.  The rain would tease us and seem to stop, but whenever I put down my hood or thought about taking off my raincoat, it would start again.  Although the track continued for another 15 km, this was our short day of walking, and we soon saw the turnoff to Lochmara Lodge where we were stopping.  I had wanted to stay overnight here, but the lodge was booked, so we settled for lunch and walking around.  Luckily, by that time, the rain had stopped.
    Lochmara Lodge is famous for promoting art, and sculpture is scattered throughout their grounds. This mosaic sofa reminded us of Gaudi's art in Barcelona.

The lodge is also known for environmental awareness and protecting native species.  They have a breeding program for threatened parakeets.  We got to help out at the daily feeding.

Finally, it was time to go back to Picton via water taxi #4.  We had a great time.

Queen Charlotte Track, Part One

We have a hard time understanding how holidays work but we certainly are not going to let that disrupt an opportunity to take one. New Zealand Has a couple more national holidays than we do in the states and fortunately they seem to be clustered when we are here. The government also requires 4 weeks of vacation time for employees, considerably more than in the states. Anyways, despite being a much less "religious" country than the states, both Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays and we took that four day weekend and ran with it out to the Marlborough Sounds. The Queen Charlotte Track is one of the great walks in New Zealand that has a very important advantage over the others, you can do the multiday walk and have your gear transported by water taxi from one location to the other. That was perfect for us, a 25 kilometer walk is quite enough without a heavy pack on our back. In addition, our lodging is not in a tent but in a charming lodge that is perhaps accessible only by water and can still serve up wonderful accommodations and meals.------------------------------ We began our adventure from Picton, a wonderful small port town on that serves as the southern Island port for the InterIsland Ferry between the North and South Islands. We stayed at a great B and B just above the port where we left early Friday morning on a sea taxi to Motuara Island, one of the predator free islands in New Zealand that serves as a bird refuge. It took decades to eradicate the mammals, mainly possums and stoats, that have devastated the New Zealand bird populations. We did get the chance to see the New Zealand Saddleback, that has recovered from near extinction with only 37 individuals to a population of several thousands now, as well as Little Blue Penguins in their nesting boxes,_______ ______ From Motuara we caught another ferry to Resolution Bay where we began our track. The first day was a beautiful short hike over to Endeavor inlet where we caught yet another water taxi over to Ponga Cove and walked to our destination at Mahana Lodge. Mahana had three other couples doing the track staying at their fabulous retreat. An international group we were, with Americans, New Zealanders, Australians, and a fellow from London. Many walk the track but cycling is equally as popular as the route, though quite hilly, is well maintained and suitable for mountain bikes, with a fair amount of pushing to be expected. We had a wonderful dinner together with great conversation and Marlborough wines. It was quite a pleasure to run into all these new found friends as we all wound are way around the track over the next couple of days.