THE REES-DART TRACK IN MAGNIFICENT MT. ASPIRING NATIONAL PARK

Drove to Queenstown for the next set of adventures. The Rees-Dart (after the rivers by the same name) Track was first. I decided to do the 37 miles in two days as the weather was forecast to turn rainy.

Hardly noticed me (I don't have a telephoto lens)

Beautiful walking in the alpine rainforest

Many waterfalls

Chamois, endemic to the European Alps were imported to NZ
in the early 1900's

This is looking straight down

Much like the PCT where some of the trail is carved (blasted) out of rock

As the weather was forecast to become rainy with low overcast I was going to miss the views in Fjordland so I decided to splurge and stand on a glacier as well...





Alfie also worked as a helicopter pilot filming
 Lord of The Rings




Birds eye of valley I had hiked the day before



Some snow time on the glacier



Mitre Peak in Milford Sound



You don't see this from the trail

I have just a bit more to do in NZ but the internet is always an issue so thanks for your patience.

Basking in the sunshine

 Drove to Kaiteriteri on Tasman Bay for some sea kayaking in the Able Tasman National Park.

The sea kayak is a bit larger and has a steerable rudder

Lunch stop

A cracked dinosaur egg

 

On to Arthur's Pass National Park to walk the Narnia Track, where the movie by the same name was filmed. Then to Mt.Cook National Park to see New Zealand's highest point.

View of Mt. Cook hiking up the Hooker Valley

THE SOUTH ISLAND...

After the Whanganui River I drove to Wellington for the ferry across the Cook Straight to Picton. Next on the list was the Queen Charlotte Track. You take a mailboat to water acess only Ship Cove where famous English explorer Captain James Cook anchored five times in the late 1770's. The walk starts here and for 44 miles follows the ridges above the Queen Charlotte, Marlborough and Keneperu Sounds.

Ferry "ARATERE" from Wellington to Picton

First nights stay at Punga Cove

Grandfather said, "Stop and smell the roses"

Very much like Puget Sound

On to the Whanganui River for a three day , 54-mile paddle of a nearly unbroken gorge of sheer cliff walls. Most do the trip in canoes but as I was solo a kayak was my transport. I paddled alone mostly and only saw people at the huts overnight.

Looks a bit like a toy boat



Relaxing after the journey



DIED AND GONE TO NEW ZEALAND

That is the name of the article in the March 2012 issue of Backpacker Magazine. It's a "schedule", if you will, of what to see and do for thirty days. The weather is a bit like the Pacific Northwest - very unpredictable, with rain possible at any time. I was fortunate and have been able to follow the article very closely. Here goes:



Campervan complete with 2-burner gas cooker, fridge and sink



Rotorua has over 50 miles of maintained MTB trails



Barely survived




Tongariro, NZ's first national park was next



:



On the way up Mt. Ngaurahoe



It looked steeper when I was climbing
 It has erupted 45 times in the last century