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Final days in NZ
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After Christchurch, I headed back to Arthur's pass in the hope to do some hiking, especially Avalanche Peak. Though it was sunny on the way up to the pass, once I got closer to Arthur's Pass village, rain and snow was present. It was absolutely beautiful but impossible to hike up Avalanche Peak without appropriate gear such as snowshoes and ice axe. I met Tony, Mark and Jodie, members of the NZ Alpine Club who invited me to stay at the NZAC hut. We discussed hiking possibilities for the next day and I decided to stay at Bealy hut and continue the next day to Casey hut. However, the weather overnight turned out to be rather bad and in the morning, everything was snow covered. How beautiful though. After nearly freezing my bum off at the hut (I didn't have a proper sleeping bag), I decided to leave AP and head to lower elevations. On the way out, I had a close encounter with a Kea as he tried to eat away on the window rubber of my car. I took it easy and took in the scenery while taking back roads to Nelson Lake. There, I took the wrong turn and ended up at lake Rotoroa, the bigger lake of the two Nelson Lakes. Here I met Tony, who runs the Gowan Bank Backpackers and fell in love with the place. I decided to stay and played with Tony's dog Harley, had dinner with Tony and Mark and then we plotted plans for the next day as to what I can possibly do in the cold.
Since the higher ranges of Nelson Lake were covered in snow, it was not possible for me to stay in Angelus hut as I had planned. I decided on a day trip instead and headed up the St. Arnaud range which overs a breathtaking view of the nelson lakes surroundings. The hike was marvellous as I encountered lots of birds, interesting fungus and snow and ice covered trees and shrubs. The hardest part was getting to the top of the range as snow was anywhere from ankle to knee deep. As big black clouds were looming over the range, I didn't stay too long on the top and headed back down after about 5 minutes. But it was well worth it. After two nights at Tony's place, I headed to Picton via a disappointing stop at Richmond National Forrest. Unfortunately, the forest is logging area and big truck and closed roads made my planned trip up Mt. Richmond impossible. In Picton, I stayed at a campground, sleeping in my car (it was cold). The next day, I took the boat to Ship Cove from where I started my three-day Queen Charlotte track. The highlights of the track were its solitude, the abundance of birds (wekas, fantails, tuis and more), the wild pigs and the beautiful views of the sounds. In addition, I had two wonderful home stays, one at Noelin's and the other at DeBretts.
After finishing the QC track, I headed south to Kaikoura where I visited a lavender farm and headed up to Mt. Fyffe to spend the night in the hut. It was a steep hike up to the summit at 1600 metres. But the view, ohhhh the view!! I guess that is what fascinates me with mountains, the silence, the sun and the blue sky, the snow covered peaks and an occasional cry of the kea. It was just beautiful at the summit, cold but beautiful. I went back down and stayed the night at the hut, sharing the 8-bunk home with a dad and his three kids from Christchurch. Although I made a nice fire, it was still rather chilly in the hut but thankfully, the dad gave me a pair of fleece pants and fleece socks. We had tea and chatted a bit and otherwise laid in bed and read.
The next morning, I hiked back down and embarked on the scenic alpine road trip to Hamner Springs where I spent a night and a 2-hour night dip in the famous Hamner Thermal Springs. The next day, I returned my car to Christchurch and headed to Murchison for a two-week farm stay. More thumbnails ...
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