Sunday was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19.7 km hike, 800 metres up, 1100 meters down, through a volcanic mountain range. For you Lord of the Rings fans out there, this was where the Mordor scenes were filmed, including Mt. Doom! (Keith was very excited about this). That morning we woke up at 5:30 am, ate a quick breakfast, put together our day packs and were outside waiting by 6:15 for a shuttle bus to drive us to the trail head. We decided not to drive our car because there is so much car theft that takes place in the parking lot, so we were ready to pay this shuttle company $50 NZ dollars each to drive us. Our pick up time of 6:20 am came and went, and after waiting outside for almost 45 minutes, we realized they weren’t coming. When we told the hostel owner they didn’t show up, he immediately delivered an angry phone call to the company and then told us that if we drove to another location nearby, the company would drive us from there free of charge. Although happy to be saving 100 dollars, we were already a little frustrated by the inconvenience, and were anxious to get going on the 7-8 hour hike. When we arrived at the next location, we found out that the guy wanted to drive our car, drop us off and then pick us up at the end of the day. After a little reassuring on his part, we agreed to this; he even gave us 10 L of gas free and ended up being a really nice guy. After a slow start to the day, we finally got to the trail at 10 am and started on our way; in fact it all turned out better because we didn’t have to pay for anything :). The hike was INCREDIBLE. The first 5 km were relatively flat through volcanic rocks, with very little vegetation. Then the incline began and it was so steep! We passed a few craters, and eventually made it to the summit. The view was breathtaking. From the top, you could see the ‘Blue Lake,’ the three ‘Emerald Lakes,’ along with the ‘Red Crater’; it was amazing. It was all scree (loose rocks) down from the summit and very steep; but once we got down to the lakes, we sat and enjoyed our packed lunch. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, because the weather can sometimes get pretty volatile in the mountain range. On the way down, the vegetation completely changed to green fields with flowers and we passed several natural hot springs. The very last few kilometers were through a rainforest type setting along a beautiful stream; so many different landscapes in one day! We were pretty tired by the end of the hike, but we finished in just under 6 hours, much faster than we expected. Definitely a trip highlight! After getting back to our hostel and cooking dinner, we decided not to give in to how exhausted we were and headed to a bar in the town. Right away we met three guys, two from Adelaide, Australia and one from NZ. They all worked on a race car team (one driver, one engineer, one mechanic); really nice guys and we spent the night talking to them. One of them even said he might have some job connections in Adelaide or Melbourne, so we will see if those pan out in the future! Back to our room around 2 am for a very much needed sleep. The next morning we checked out and started our long drive straight from Taupo to Wellington; which took about 5 hours in all. Since it was Valentine’s Day, we decided to treat ourselves to a hotel stay instead of a tent or dorm room, and found a nice place downtown near the ferry harbour. After checking in, we went out for a nice dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant, which brought back memories from our Europe trip with Italian food and Turkish beer. We walked around a little bit after that, and it was a really nice night. We got up early the next morning to catch our 8 am ferry to the South Island, so we saw virtually none of Wellington as a city; we are hoping to spend a little more time there on the way back. The ferry ride was about 3 hours and passed through the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, arriving in Picton around noon. We bought some groceries, then drove the Queen Charlotte Scenic Drive along the coast and decided to make it all the way to Motueka; a town just south of Abel Tasman National Park. We stayed at a really nice campsite where we swam in the pool, barbequed burgers and played a game of chess on the giant chess board (something I have always wanted to do!) We had a little boy from England watching us and giving us pointers the whole time haha.
Wednesday morning we got up early and headed out on a full-day excursion to Abel Tasman with a great tour company. There were only six of us in the group, two girls from Switzerland and a couple from Holland; and a great local guide. We started the day off with three hours of kayaking, stopping at a secluded beach for some ‘Milo’ (NZ equivalent to hot chocolate) and biscuits along the way. The water was so beautiful and clear, and every beach we saw had perfect golden sand. We had a lot of fun as a group, the guide called each of our tandem kayaks “Team Canada” or “Team Swiss” etc. We kayaked over to Adele Island and spotted some baby NZ fur seals! They were so cute. After the kayaking, we relaxed on the beach for a while before getting picked up by a speedboat that took us to Bark Bay. We hit huge waves on the boat and were going so fast, I was laughing the whole time; loved it. Once we arrived at the Bay, we hiked along the trail for two hours and made it to Torrent Bay (6 km). This section of the 51 km hike is supposed to be the most picturesque and I could see why – it was incredible. We found the trail to be a little too busy though, it was nice to talk to other travelers but I think we are usually spoiled with having trails mainly to ourselves. Once we got to the next beach we got picked up by the same speedboat and taken back to the beginning. Walking up the beach back to the shuttle van was interesting because the tide had gone so far out; we saw lots of crabs, starfish and seashells. We got back to our car around 5 pm, and headed southwest right away, making it to Murchison by 8 pm, where we stayed at another campsite.
The next morning we got up and packed, and made time to feed some of the animals at the campsite. I wanted to feed the sheep but couldn’t get their attention, so I was stuck feeding the ugly emus and chickens. There were also ducks walking around everywhere, and even a few deer. We left by 10:30 or so and drove west to Westport, where we stopped to eat lunch at the beach and take a look at a seal colony. Then we followed a beautiful coastal walkway for about an hour out to a lighthouse and back. We continued south down the west coast, which is one of the top ten road trips in the world, according to our Lonely Planet guide. It was a stunning drive. Along the way, we stopped for some ice cream and checked out the ‘Pancake Rocks,’ a unique geological rock formation on the coast. We arrived in Greymouth around 6 pm, where we stayed last night at one of the coolest hostels I have ever seen. We actually pitched a tent in the backyard, but had access to all of the facilities. The decorations are incredible with African and Asian themes, and a really nice kitchen and living room; it felt like being at home. We cooked some dinner and then made use of the free bikes they provide here. We wanted to ride down to the beach to watch the sunset, but the chain came off of Keith’s ancient bike about 10 minutes into the ride, and then the seat fell off; so we just walked them back haha. We spent the rest of the night relaxing in the common room, catching up on emails and enjoying a few beers.
That brings us to today, February 18! We are going on a Monteith’s Brewery Tour and Tasting in a couple of hours and then heading further south to the glaciers; we are really looking forward to exploring those. It has been amazing to see beautiful places every single day on this trip and to be able to explore the country through walking, hiking, kayaking, boating etc. I am really enjoying how active we have been. This trip is so different than our Europe trip, which was so awesome, but much more focused on sightseeing and history. Both types of trips are incredible and we are very fortunate to be experiencing both and to be together. As we always say to each other, “life could be worse.” :)
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