January 2013 – Globitrotter

The Heaphy Track

This Great Walk was going to be the longest for us so far, 80 km in total. The first part of the trail is going over a pass and the highlands, then coming down to the coast and finally goes along the beaches. We had for some reason booked the huts as recommended without thinking too much about it. We were doing the track in four nights and five days. This could easily have been cut down to three nights and four days without even being very hard. But it was already booked so off we went.

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The view back towards Collingwood where we came from.

The first day was uphill and was supposed to be the hardest on the whole trail. It was very moderately graded so it was actually quite easy. Much easier than things we had done before. It was raining when we started but it stopped almost immediately and the sun came out until the evening when we were already in the hut on Perry Saddle.

Gouland Downs. The pretty highlands in not so pretty weather.

Hut life.

Day 2 and 3 were very short and could have easily been combined. We arrived at the huts very early and had to bring out books and join other parties card games to keep busy. Although we would have liked to skip one hut it was still a good thing because the first three days were partly rainy and foggy. Day 3 was really bad with heavy rain that made stream crossings very interesting. We were lucky and made it through with more or less dry feet but others coming in after us had to wade in thigh deep water. Day 4 and 5 though were excellent with blue skies and we could enjoy the track more.

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Looking down towards the coast where the last hut is.

The part along the coast was stunning with views of beaches and rugged coast line. It would be worth walking the whole track only for this part. It can also be done as a day hike from the end of the track.

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The bad thing about the Heaphy Track is that it ends a long way from the start. Either you can catch a bus back from where you started which will take half a day, have the rest of your luggage sent to the other side, have your car driven to the other end or…. fly back. Guess what we did? Yes, of course we took the scenic way. A shuttle bus took us from the end of the track to the air strip where we called the guy who was coming to pick us up. A few minutes later he arrived and took us back in a Cessna to the start of the track in 20 min. A bit depressing that you fly in 20 min what we had walked in 5 days. But it was definitely worth it especially since we were so lucky with the weather. The sky was blue when we were in the air but just a few hours later rain clouds were rolling in over the hills. Good timing!

More photos:

Heaphy Track – New Zealand

Abel Tasman National Park

Abel Tasman National Park is situated in the north western part of the South Island. It is mainly known for its nice beaches, rugged coast line and seal colonies. There is a Great Walk along the coast in the park but this time we decided to go the water way with kayaks instead of on the trail. This was also a way of escaping the crowds on the trail and in the huts. The huts were anyway fully booked so camping was our only option.

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We rented a double kayak for three days in Marahau just where the trail starts. We filled it with camping gear, lots of nice food, snacks and wine. Since you do not have to carry anything you can bring things you normally would not carry on a hike. First I thought that everything would not fit but there were lots of space so no worries.

We had booked two camps on the way with some distance that was recommended in brochures and they were going to pick us up at the end of day three so we would not have to go back the same way. The real distance was not really obvious and turned out to be not very much at all. This meant we had lots of time to discover small secluded beach that were only reached by boat, small islands and seal colonies. This was the real treat since the beaches that had huts, toilets and trails were very busy. We stopped on these beaches too to use the facilities but otherwise we tried to get out of others way.

The weather was fine the first day although the storm the day before were still causing some swells and choppy waters along the coast. The second two days were fantastic with clear blue skies and basically no wind. We could not have asked for better conditions.

The tides were very obvious in the area and the second morning we had to drag our kayak down to the water line. The night before we had luckily arrived in high tide and could paddle all the way in to the campground. The tides often makes it interesting here also on the hikes sometimes. The sailing boats have to come in on high tide and then they get stuck on low tide and simply have to wait until the water level raises again. Somewhat different from sailing in Stockholm.

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Abel Tasman National Park

Queen Charlotte Track

On Christmas Eve we caught the ferry over to the South Island from Wellington. The ferry brings you to Picton were we had decided to stay over the holiday. On Christmas Day everything was closed so we could not expect to do much that day. Only thing to do was to have a lazy day and cook some nice food and drink wine. This we did together with Jasmine from Austria who we met first at Tongariro and then by chance again on the ferry.

After our Christmas celebrations it was time to organize our next outing which was going to be the Queen Charlotte Track. The track runs along a ridge in the Marlborough Sounds in the northern most part of the South Island. It is a little different since it passes a lot of private land and there are no DOC (Department of Conservation) huts, only campgrounds. If you do not want to camp there are a lots of options, hotels, B&Bs and hostels. We decided to bring our tent though.

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On the ferry to Ship Cove.

On Boxing Day we caught the afternoon ferry to the start of the track, Ship cove. From there it took us four days to reach Anakiwa from where the ferry was going to bring us back to Picton. Unfortunately the weather was not the greatest. The clouds were quite low but at least it did not rain heavily during the days but only at night. So we kept dry and happy for the entire time. Even with the low clouds it was a beautiful hike through native bush, along the water front and mostly on top of a ridge.

At the highest point of the track. On a clear day you are supposed to be able to see all the way to the North Island. We were not so lucky but it was still beautiful.

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Somewhere along the track

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What made us even happier was the fact that next to the campgrounds day two and three there was a bar. Almost like being in the Alps you get a beer at the end of the day! Nice! Even though we had to carry our tent which made the backpacks a bit heavier it felt like a luxury hike. We could of course have left some of the food and eaten in restaurants on the way but that would be like cheating. The beer was luxury enough.

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Queen Charlotte Track

Tongariro Northern Circuit

You might have heard of the Tongariro Crossing, one of the most wellknown day hikes in New Zealand, which is a part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit. The track is about 45 km and we decided to do it in 3 days. The first day was very short, just a few hours to the hut and basically no elevation gain or loss. When we started the weather was a bit unstable but as we woke up the second day the sky was blue.

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The view from the first hut with Mt Taranaki at the horizon.

From the track we could see the snow capped Mt Taranaki at the west coast. The second day started along the Tongariro Crossing which meant it was full of people. It looked like an ants trail and we were happy it was only a part of our hike that was going to be that crowded. Tourists are generally not very well equipped and on a tight time schedule. This means anything that involves an over night stay without hostels or hotels available will be relatively empty and mainly filled with locals.

Following the ant trail on the Center Crater.

After an hour or so hiking we found ourselves at the foot of Mt Ngaruhoe (featuring as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy). We had not really planned to climb the peak because we thought there would still be too much snow on the top and that it would be too much for one day. We were going to skip one hut and go to the next one which added a couple of hours to an already full day. But we had seen that the snow had melted and although it was going to be hard we could not resist the temptation.

At the base of Mt Ngaruhoe

On the peak.

Mt Ngaruhoe is an active volcano which is an almost perfect cone. It might not look so bad from a distance but it is very difficult to climb with loose rocks and steep slopes. It did not make it easier with the big backpacks but within 1.5 hours we were on the top and could enjoy the views while having lunch. There are quite a lot of people climbing the peak which is dangerous because of falling rocks. The day before we hiked one guy had to be pick up with helicopter after being hit by a rock. We made it though without injuries and could make our way towards the hut.

Emerald Lakes which we passed on our second day.

Finally around 6 o’clock in the evening we made it to our hut which was newly opened and had great views of the Mt Ngaruhoe. We just barely made it through dinner before we fell a sleep exhausted after another great hiking day.

The view of Mt Ruapehu which we saw a lot of the last day. The trail ran between Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngaruhoe making it a very beautiful part of the track.

The last day was fairly short and easy with not much elevation gain. We made it back in time to have afternoon tea in the Chateau at the end of the track with Anna and Basti that we had met along the way. A very nice ending of a beautiful hike in volcanic surroundings which are not very common in New Zealand. Usually a great part of the hikes are through forest but this one only has about 30 min of forest in three days.

Afternoon tea with a view of Mt Ngaruhoe. What an excellent end of a great hike.

Click the image below and you can see more photos from the hike.

Tongariro Northern Circuit

Lake Waikaremoana – an unexpected journey

The Lake Waikaremoana track is actually one of the New Zealand so called Great Walks but not very well known. Hardly any tourists know about it, including us until recently. We were told about this track by an Israeli tourist we met in Holly Hut on our Taranaki adventure. It sounded nice and after doing some research we booked huts and were on our way.

View over Lake Waikaremoana.

We spent one night before the hike at the campground by the lake that also operates the water taxi you need to take to the start and from the finish of the track. It was nice to get a boat ride on the lake but the down side with the water taxi is that you have to be somewhere at a certain time which is difficult when you have not done the track before. Afraid of not having enough time you instead end up waiting for a long time. We had nice weather though so it was not so bad lingering at the end of the track. We were also in the good company of Warren who did the same hike as us. He was nice enough to then invite us to his home in Palmerston North were we later spent a few nice days. We particularly liked to try Pavlova, the national New Zealand dessert, and Shepherd’s Pie. 🙂

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On the ridge about halfways to Panekiri Hut.

The first day we hiked up and along a ridge line to Panekiri Hut. It was a short walk, although including some elevation gain, and we were at the hut early in the afternoon. At the hut we met a school group from Orewa and ended up playing games with them a few hours. It made the time pass a bit quicker and we learned some new games we will probably never play again or remember for that matter. 🙂 The views from the top of the ridge were great and different from what we were going to see the coming two days.

Day two the trail took us off the ridge and down to the lake. The trail more or less then followed the side of the lake until the finish of the track. We made a small side trip to a waterfall which was actually one of the nicer ones we have seen so far. Even with this side trip we had some time to relax by the lake for a while. Our hut was hidden behind a small hill which at the end of the day felt like a mountain. Overall there had been more ups and downs than we had expected on this day. It felt good to be at the hut and be able to wash (we did not swim, it was way too cold for that) a bit in the lake. Warren was already there to welcome us and the three of us were the only ones in the hut that night.

The waterfall

Relaxing

The last day we started early to make sure we would be at the pick up point in time. It was an easy tramp to the end of the trail. We did pass one hill but it was not very steep and actually easier than we had expected.

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Leaving the second hut.

Even though we took our time and made several breaks along the way we were still one and a half hours too early. Overall, it was not a very strenuous hike but our feet were stilltired and we were happy to be on our way to Taupo and a shower.

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Leaving the pick up point at the end of the track.

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Lake Waikaremoana