Some great pictures from small adventures on the South Island in New Zealand from cool waterfalls at Mc Lean falls, which also happens to be where we broke the key and had to get the car hotwired. Farm animals and some local wildlife from some of the campgrounds we called home. Arthur’s Pass with an amazing bridge; crossing a giant avalanche chute. And more fun tunnels and caves from another Gold Rush area on the West Coast of the South Island.
Taking a side trip to Cromwell to checkout a Gold Rush Trail. Another fascinating trail and the tunnels that they dug must have taken forever. We were able to get into most of the tunnels and they ranged from 50-100 feet back depending on the tunnel. I think Phil wants to be a Gold miner so he can play in the tunnels everyday, They made for some pretty cool pictures. 
There ware parts of an old homestead still there and an orchard that was planted in 1906. The fruit wasn’t quite ripe yet. Venturing down off the hill was plenty of trail races where they used to run water thru to wash out the gold. Water was a hot commodity and was sold to each claim site. There was even remnants of where the blacksmith used to have his shop and caves where the workers used to live.
An amazing sight big round rocks on a beach all in one contained area. We jumped from boulder to boulder and took lots of pictures. Some boulders were crushed into many pieces but most of them were whole.
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It’s raining of course but I guess this is what you want in Fiordland as it is a rainforest and it makes better warerfals for pictures. Heading out to Milford Sound the falls off the mountains were unreal how could that much water be coming down the mountains. Soon reaching Homer Tunnel which is a spectacle on it’s own. A tunnel built through the mountain and you can’t see the other side. A big wall of mountain and a hole through the middle, really? 
why ,would you even think of that? Homer was a great climber in the area a proposed a tunnel to be dug thru the mountain and you can hike some of the trails to wear Homer used to climb.
Milford sound is really a tourist area and you either go on a cruise or hike the 60km trail we took thc cruise as the trail had been booked up for months. 
Not sure I would have enjoyed the hike as it rains most of the time. As soon as you head out on the boat there is a gusher of a falls pouring out of the mountain. The mountains Milford Sound are pouring out with water just insane. The boat ride was 1.5hrs and was a great event even in the rain. We saw some seals up close and some amazing water falls.
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Arriving in Te-anau in a crazy wind and rain storm not surprising for the Fiordland. Deciding on when to do the hikes in the Fiordland was difficult with the rain and the forcast was rain. If it was nice we would hike otherwise we would hide. Little did we realize the weather here is always nasty. The campground we were staying at had a cabin available for the next night so we decided to run the Kepler track and then stay in the cabin. The Kepler track is 63km and is one of the 9 great walks of New Zealand. That night it poured rain with some added thunder and lightning.
Phil woke at about 5:00am to beautiful sunny weather. The sky was clear and we were ready for our 48km hike/run. The Kepler track was a mix of easy walking and a lot of switchbacks, a popular trail since it has 3 huts on it so most people take 3-4 days to walk it. The first 12km is in the trees and the last 33 km is in the trees but we like to hike above treeline. We decided to go quickly up through the trees so we could get above treeline as fast as possible. Breaking thru the trees was amazing the views of Lake Te Anau and Mt Luxmore towering above us. It was another few minutes before we reached the first hut at the base of Mt
Luxmore where we had some lunch. A helicopter landed beside the hut and dropped off some people I guess that’s one way to get up the mountain. The track led us up and around traversing mountainsides until we reached one of the emergency shelters. They really like there switchbacks here. More great views of the southern arm, of Lake Te Anau. Around a few more mountains and more switchbacks we reached the second emergency shelter. Here there was about 6 kids waiting for their parents they were hiking the whole trail which was great to see. We took in some more great views and then headed back down. 
This was our 24km turnaround spot we could have made it all the way around but the last bit would have been long with no views. So we ran most of the way down for a 10hour day of hiking 48kms. What a great day and we lucked out with great weather.
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The Abel Tasman coastal hike is 53 km hike in Abel Tasman National Park. This trail can be traveled in many ways you can kayak, water taxi or hike it or do a combination of all three. Phil and I decided to take the water taxi up to the north end of the trail and take 3 days to hike back and we wanted to take our time a leisurely pace and enjoy the beaches and the water. 
The start of our hike was at Mutton Cove and we were the only ones to get off the boat everyone else had either got off already or were going back and just doing the boat tour. So, alone on the beach what a great feeling we left our packs and took a walk up the rocks around the bay to check out some sea lions; the males were fighting and the babies were hiding; crying for their moms.
Leaving here was hard it was hot, the beach was nice and empty. All the other beaches that we passed in the water taxi were full of people but no one comes up this far north. Hiking along about 1.5hours into our day we found a beach and took some time swimming and napping on the beach – yes we took some time out to enjoy the sun and the water. Other people came by and saw us in the water and since we had been in for so long they decided they would try it to they lasted about a minute a little to cold for them.
A great trail and lots of great beaches on the way to Awaroa campsite the only problem is we had a tidal crossing and it wasn’t going to be passable until 6:30pm at the earliest and we arrived about 4pm. Waiting was going to be pretty boring and we don’t like to sit around it wouldn’t have been as bad it was a nice sandy beach but it was just a muddy estuary. After about an hour we could see a sandbar showing so we walked out and water was just above our ankles. 
That’s not too bad. Phil doesn’t like to wait so he decided he would take one pack and carry it over his head it can’t be that deep if he can see across. Phil started walking across the inlet and it slowly was deeper and deeper soon up to his waist, now over his waist, and now up to his chest. As he got to the middle of the crossing; walking in his sandals the rocks would get stuck so he would try and shake them out while standing on one leg – what a great idea. Meanwhile some other hikers came along and they stayed close to the shore and made there way around with the water only coming up to their waist for a few minutes. I’m thinking I’m going to go that way instead of straight across. Phil did make it across and he had so much fun he came back across to join me.
The campsite that night was chocka but we had a great night nice and dry. The next day we decided we just wanted to get to our destination at Torrent Bay and relax on the beach and go for a swim. We had to leave by 9am to make the next tidal crossing as well but it wasn’t a problem we had lots of time for this one. Great views and beaches as we headed to 
Torrent Bay at a much faster pace today so we got to camp early and went swimming and napping on the beach. We built a snowman out of shells as the sun went down and visited with some locals.
Christmas Day at Torrent Bay what a great way to spend Christmas day, we had some breakfast on the dock the tide was way out and we got invited by the locals to see Santa give out presents to all of the kids at the beach.
It was great Christmas sprit just a little odd to be on the beach.
Rotorua the thermal pools and mud pools were super cool. The geyser that goes off at 10:15 so everyone gathers around the bleachers set up for this geyser and hundreds of people crowd around all trying to get the right spot for the best picture. The warden guy comes down tells us about the history of the geyser then drops in some soap like a grade 8 science project wait a few minutes and the geyser goes off. 
Not that exciting but the mud pools, that’s where the excitement begins we could have watched the mud for hours as it burps and blops into the air.
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Tongariro Alpine Crossing
This is a shuttle hike and the shuttle leaves at 5:40 to beat the crowds. The night before was crazy cold so we froze all night to wake up super early we managed to make the bus on time as others were scrambling and running after the bus this was quite amusing for us. It felt like the amazing race where the late people were not going to be allowed on the bus because they were the last teams to arrive. I don’t even watch this show.
The early shuttle bus was to beat the crowds you can imagine the crowds at 6am yeah almost nobody except the 10 of us on the bus.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is one of New Zealand’s 9 great walks and is about 20kms long. Someone along the way had said it was a pretty hard crossing – not so much. It was all alpine which was great and we climbed up for about 1.5 hours and then attempted the hike up a volcano. The Volcano didn’t look that hard from below and we read the directions to the unmarked trail it said follow the white stakes and then follow the ridge well we followed the stakes until we could see a trail up the scree which was apparently the wrong way to go as it wasn’t the ridge. This seems to be where we went wrong we didn’t follow the ridge. So our summit attempt was ended by a wrong turn and we found ourselves headed straight up a scree slope with nowhere to go. So we would have to call off our summit attempt today and carry on back along the crossing.
Craters and thermal activity were along the way and very amazing to look at; steam rose from the rocks as I put my hands down on the rocks to warm them up. The wind was howling through but it was a super nice day the best day they have had in the last 8 weeks. It had snowed the day before so we were pretty happy with our day,
The way down was a great run of about 8km the trail was a mixture of rocks, stairs, streams and a few people. There were some hot springs on the way down but we weren’t allowed in them with out prior permission from the Natives but we did feel the water in the stream and it was warm that was a little bizarre. Near the end of the hike there was an amazing waterfall so we stopped for a while to get the best picture. Finished the hike in 5 hours and made it back for the first shuttle at 12:30pm I guess starting the trail that early leaves you the rest of the day to do some more hiking. It was a great hike and it reminded us of the Skyline trail in Jasper.
The Kauri Forest
One day Phil and Grace wanted to know how did they get all those Kauri trees out of the forest without building any roads. This is how – when the floods came the trees sailed down the rivers and were controlled by hand made dams. The forest had 9 dams altogether and the second largest dam was left for us to discover.
The hike up was 2 hours and it was a lot of stairs all built out of rock about 100 years ago. The dam was pretty amazing to think it was built so long ago. Now a historic site you are not supposed to go on the dam.
The hut at the top of the trail was pretty amazing with sleeping quarters a huge kitchen and a huge covered bbq area.
A side trip took us up hundred’s more stairs up to the Pinnacles; these very large rock structures were pretty cool and the stairs were built into the rock but all seemed pretty safe to walk on. From the top the views were awesome we could see the South Pacific Ocean and mountains forever.
Here is a video of some of the trail and the swing bridges we had to go over.
Fast Tube by Casper
Northland N.Z. has 2 speed limits 30kph and 100kph and they sit about 10 feet apart…
Welcome to the next part of our journey in New Zealand – Arriving in Auckland a week ago it poured rain for 2 days. As we drove north to the Bay of Islands the sun was shining and it was nice and hot. In need of seeing the Islands here we needed to do a boat tour and there are a lot options. Sarah at the info center suggested “The Rock” when we approached her of where to rent kayaks from she asked how long we were going to stay in Paihia. As long as it takes to enjoy it… Sarah and her husband Johnny own “The Rock” a retired vehicle ferry converted into a beautiful houseboat. Camping in town at Hararu falls thinking of what to do we thought we would head to Ninety mile Beach tomorrow. With so many options of day trips and overnight trips.
Headed north to check out Ninety Mile beach which is actually only 63kms long but you can safely drive on this beach it is totally solid and the bus tour takes you on the beach the whole way to Cape Reinga. The speed limit on the beach is 100kph? WTF!!! It was great for an afternoon run and then we played in the waves; which were awesome; but you had to look out for traffic on the beach.
Driving back to Paihia we decided to go out on “The Rock” to see the Bay of Islands and it left that day at 5pm. “The Rock” is a 22 hour boat tour that takes you out to quiet bays, you get to go kayaking, swimming, fishing, target shooting, night kayaking to see the phousfloresence, hiking and if it’s warm enough you may even see dophins. The tour was awesome and the food was great; it’s the best way to see the Islands and enjoy the water. The night kayak and swim was the best. The crew on The Rock made it such a great adventure. The tour left at 5pm and returned the next day at 3pm we had 18 people on our tour and the boat has room for 40.
While on “The Rock” we found out that Phil has great aim when shooting at a floating duck out the back of the boat must be from all of those fishing days back in Prince Rupert. He was in the finals with Edwin from Holland who appartenly goes to a shooting range every week he couldn’t miss either so they called it a draw after 5 consecutive shots first time this has ever happened on the boat.
I think Phil must have impressed Mink (1st mate on board) so much that he asked Phil to give the pre-dinner talk about who we were and what we were doing in New Zealand.
Phil and I would like to give a big shout out to all of the crew and owners of “The Rock” they created a beautiful envirnoment for us to be able to fully enjoy all that The Bay of Islands had to offer. If anyone is coming out to NZ and looking for a boat cruise to do I would highly recommend checking out www.rocktheboat.co.nz it will be a trip you will never forget.
Northland was a great adventure the roads are crazy windy one of the road signs says ‘100kph is not a target please drive the road conditions’ – in our rental car it was impossible to drive anywhere close to 100km on these roads. Very Fun Road Burms!!
Next Cormondel Pennisula here we come for some hikes and more beaches
Stay tuned…
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