After 17 days in the wilderness of New Zealand, I have finally returned to civilization. I had a jam-packed break, and skipped an extra week of class so I had more time to explore this beautiful country. My friend and I hopped into his van and started driving across the country. First stop: Castle Hill, a hilly area covered in giant rocks that are fun to climb. Fun fact, the giant battle scene in Chronicles of Narnia was filmed in the area.
I finally saw a kea, which was exciting. He let me get really close, but when he realized I wasn’t going to feed him he got annoyed and slightly aggressive.
Next, I stopped at Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki – aptly named because the rocks are layered and kinda look like gigantic stacks of deformed pancakes. We brought a gas canister and frying pan and made some pancakes at the Pancake Rocks. So many Asian tourists took photos of us cooking our pancakes that we literally had to relocate to a different area to escape them. The pancakes were delicious though, and the views were obviously gorgeous, I mean it’s New Zealand.
I went on a 4-day backpacking trip on the Abel Tasman coast track, one of New Zealand’s 9 Great Walks (a set of popular tramping tracks throughout the country). The entire track was on the northern coastline of the South Island, providing stunning ocean views. Every campsite I stayed at was on the beach, so I got to see some pretty beautiful sunsets over the water. After 4 days of hiking, we made it to the end of the track and took the water taxi back to the car park. On the way back, I saw a bunch of baby seals, an eagle ray, and a ton of kayakers (kayaking is pretty popular in the area). It was crazy seeing how far I’d walked (about 60 kilometers)… who knew I was capable of being a semi-athletic human.
The entire Abel Tasman track was chockfull of wekas, the most annoying and noisy bird I have yet to encounter in this country. Throughout the night they scream their mating calls, peck at the tents, and make these aggressive throaty noises. I’m convinced that they spend literally all of their time searching for food and eating. They kept lurking under the picnic tables and in the nearby bushes. In the dark, they think they’re sneaky and will literally wait right next to you in case you accidentally drop a crumb – food! Pictured below is a mischievous weka in the flesh. Fun fact, a lot of people mistake them for the rare and elusive kiwi, and sometimes swarms of tourists will excitedly gather around a weka snapping dozens of photos. Nope that’s just a weka, nothing too exciting.
After that, I backpacked in the Nelson Lakes area for five days, starting off with a grueling 1,000 meter climb. At the top though, the views were stunning as I scaled a ridge line. My pack weighed a ton but most of it was food; after all that intense hiking, I deserve to feast.
Unlike a great walk, which has a clear defined path, the Nelson Lakes area’s paths are.. lacking.. in parts. The path markers were often so far apart that I couldn’t see the next one, so I just kept walking straight and hoping I was on the path. I accidentally wandered off the “path” multiple times and at one point had to wade knee-deep through a river because I somehow ended up on the wrong side of it. Pictured below: an example of the “path.” Where is it, you say? Exactly.
One of the huts I stayed at was on a lake, and at night you could go out on the dock and look down to see eel-infested waters. One of the eels was at least a meter-and-a-half long. That thing could definitely bite off some toes, no problem. Finally we made it to the Blue Lake, which is the clearest lake in the world – 80 meters of clarity! The clearness is due to the cold temperature of the water and the fact that its source is mountain springs.
Next up, I spent two days hiking part of the Heaphy, another one of New Zealand’s great walks. The portion that I hiked was along the gorgeous beach, and the foliage felt like a tropical island.
I once thought mosquitos (or possibly house centipedes) were the worst bugs on this planet, but alas I was mistaken. The sandfly is undoubtedly the worst bug to ever exist, and it lives everywhere that’s even slightly warm, i.e. everywhere it’s not actually snowing. There are millions of them everywhere and not only are their bites ridiculously itchy, they also hurt and sometimes swell up into nasty pus blister things. They also bite through the bug spray. Lovely. My legs, ankles, and feet are covered in bites and on multiple occasions, I woke up in the middle of the night because the bites were so ridiculously itchy.
On the way back to Dunedin, I made a bunch of stops. During this trip I became deeply immersed in the camping culture where you go to bed at 8 and wake up at sunrise, so I got up at 6 AM and went to the Hokitika Gorge at sunrise. The water was gorgeous and blue, and there was a pretty cool suspension bridge over the gorge. I saw a glow worm dell at night, which was just insane. It was so dark that the only thing I could see was little glow worms in every direction. I had no sense of depth perception and felt like I was floating among the stars.
I stopped at Franz Josef glacier (pictured below on left), which was cool. Interesting to look at for about 5 minutes since it’s literally just a massive chunk of ice that sits there. At the grocery store I got a “decadent double chocolate muffin,” which was absolutely amazing and a nice break from the ramen and canned veggies I’d been eating on the track. At this point I haven’t showered in approximately 9 days which is why my hair looks greasy and ugly. Next up I stopped at Blue Pools (below right), which was cool, just some more of the clear blue water that’s everywhere in New Zealand.
After stopping in Wanaka for some hot chips, I headed back to Dunedin. What an adventure. It was lovely to shower and also it’s pretty crazy that I can wash my hands in hot water now.