Last night we drove some more northwards along the east coast of the south island and made it just 50km south of Christchurch - the largest city in the south island. For the night we stopped in the Banks Peninsula at an eco friendly resort which we found by accident in the Okuti Valley. The place was nice change from the tents we stayed in for the last two weeks, hehe, we slept in a canvas tent instead. No no, don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t just an ordinary canvas tent. It was surrounded by a sheep field, had rugs inside, filled with a very comfy bed, nearby showers in an open field, and an outdoor toilet which did not use water. We talked a bit with the eco friendly people, had some good breakfast, and resumed our drive to Christchurch, which we visited in the afternoon, spent a couple of hours strolling through, and drove another 150km north to Goose Bay. Another day well spent.

Last night we drove down south from Milford Sound to the nearby’s of a city called Invercargill, and made contact with the Southern Pacific Ocean. Today, we continued the drive towards Dunedin, along the coastal scenic highways of The Catlins, stopping at multiple peninsulas, bays, and coves. The sights were great along the way, as we’ve seen some nice coastal scenery, penguins and seals. The wind blew strong and to our advantage, as the bloody sand flies (a.k.a. black flies) hid underground where they belong. When in Dunedin, we ate some cheap and filling Cambodian food, stole some free Wi-Fi signal, and made camp 20km north of the city in a closed down camping ground (yes, also for free).

Free Camping: View Map

Today it rains and drizzles, but we still went on a boat cruise of Milford Sound (on board we also received complementary coffee and muffin). It was wet and windy, but I didn’t feel cold. I was inside and out looking at the views. The entrance of the fiord is the opening to the Tasman Sea, where we turned around with the boat. This is where fish exit into the open sea and seals lay around on rocks (which we saw). I enjoyed seeing the lush vegetation. How does it grow so, on such a high vertical wall? Falls add fresh water to the fiord, which has a 3-5 meter layer of freshwater and a salt water layer below. It rains 6 meters annually at the Sound, because of the mountains laying along the sea and uplift of the moisture. A little poem below:

High walls, can’t see the tops. Tops located behind grey clouds. Clouds give a mysterious look. Look a boat so small in this fiord. Fiord so lovely in this rough water, a layer of 3 meters fresh, rest salty.

Woke up in pain. The tight waist straps which are supposed to balance weight with shoulders, have bruised our sides. Luckily, after breakfast and returning the muscles to movement the pain goes away pretty quickly. For breakfast we had some warm tea, tuna, cream cheese, crackers, and Chinese soup, followed with a couple handfuls of trail mix. The night was cold. Ewa was fine, but I woke up in the middle of the night putting on a hat, an extra sweater and cuddling closer to her. After breakfast, as the mist went away, the morning unfolded into another beautiful sunny day. We began our final 12km with 2 small ascends, followed by lengthier descends. By 3pm we were by the parking lot and taking off our backpacks and looking back at the 33km we made in the last three days. Totally amazing.

I must admit, ten minutes before getting to the parking lot I heard a falling thump on my pack. We thought it was a water drop, as there were rain drops nearby, but when we got to the parking lot I realized it was bird shit. In situations like this I always think how much different it could be if I was walking a tiny split second slower. :)

We drove another 30 minutes to get to the popular destination Milford Sound, where the fiords are plenty, and the showers are hot. Oh yea…

This was definitely a way harder day. With 15 to 18kg backpacks we ascended and descended around 600m above the bush line where the sun hit us hard. Of course, being above trees at around 1200 to 1300m for most of the day we were rewarded with some awesome views of lakes, valleys, and snow capped peaks. On top of the hard ascends, we walked 14km. We passed a number of shelters, and by late evening made it to Lake Mackenzie camp grounds, where we rejoined forces for some supper (pasta chicken carbonera style, peas, carrots, multi grain crackers, and tea) with some of the people we met last night. I think we were in bed very close to sunset.

The 250km hitching to Queenstown last night went very well, and we woke up early today to make it for the 8am bus which brought us to the beginning of the track – thanks to info track for dropping us a discount. Initially we thought of grabbing a standard full sized breakfast at one of the nearby Queenstown restaurants. However, seeing most of them closed and scrounging for time, with 20 minutes left in our pockets and in need of critical calories, we landed in Macdonald’s – first time I had a McD breakfast – not bad at all.

The hike itself was an easy start to the next few days which would follow. We walked roughly 6.5km and ascended 200m onto the Routeburn flats – a beautiful valley where we setup camp. We made friends with some local hikers from Canada, the US, and Spain, and got are asses kicked in scrabble. The water filter is working out well.

In the morning we had a lovely brie, salami, cream cheese, and French baguette, and jam breakfast, tea with lemon. We repacked our things in the backpacks, sorted food and left the rest of the things in the trunk of the car. Drove up with the car to the spot where we’ll be finishing the track called ‘The Divide’. I thought it would be a lot harder to catch a ride via hitchhiking. What are the techniques? Smile or have a more serious face to show that you are not a psycho? There were caravans that passed by, cars with space in them. We started to get discouraged to see more cars and buses heading the other way towards Milford Sound. We started hitchhiking at 11:50am and got picked up by Bob at 12:30pm, 40 minutes of a wait isn’t bad at all. Bob is a Kiwi from Auckland that resigned from his high-paying job as an engineer to set up a backpacker lodge with his wife, plus works as a guide. We got some Kiwi inside: Auckland is getting filled up with immigrants that don’t mix well with Kiwis and mispronounce different regions.

Our next hitchhiking spot was near a gas station in Te Anau. Tim Burton (not the director) an English mountaineer that just came back from a contract in the Antarctic protecting explores and others at the British Research Station. He’s met the producer of the BBC Plant Earth series. It was quite the trip back to Queenstown with laughter over the nudes park adventures and talk of Kiwis eating local and liking to have their own goods in their country—SELF DEPENDANT!! The rest of the day at Queenstown: walked about, set up camp at the Holiday Park (30$NZ the most we’ve paid), watched Chinese children feeding ducks, falling into the lake, and wanting more bread…

Queenstown … hmm … a hidden little gem near fiordland, with more mountains left and right. We stayed in the busy town for a bit, booked some accommodations and transport for the upcoming Routeburn track, bought some groceries and made our way 20 minutes away from town to sleep outside the city in a valley near Moke Lake.

Not much has happened today. We basically drove from Haast to Wanaka for a couple of hours stopping on the way to enjoy the scenery and taking a swim in ice cold mountain lake water. We stopped at an internet café today to update the web site, made some calls home, and then treated ourselves to some greasy fish and chips. In New Zealand of course, fish and chips is served in a newspaper – in true British fashion.

Today we viewed two Glaciers – the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. Unfortunately, thanks to global warming, both are retreating at approximately 1m per day or so. The massiveness of them is felt when walking up, seeing the tiny people against them, and noticing the huge cut up rock valleys they have left behind on either side. Afterwards, we continued on to the Copland Valley, but didn’t stay too long as black flies attacked us in swarms. Further on we drove for another hour south and made camp near Haast.