Christchurch, New Zealand South Island – May 9th – 10th, 2017

After dropping off Freddy, the Eurocamper shuttle took us to the airport where we caught the public bus into Christchurch. Much like the universe, the stuff we carry around with us seems to be continually expanding, leaving us with larger and larger bags to carry. Consequently, we were loaded down with a full backpacking pack and a backpack each, as well as a medium sized box we planned to ship back to the US. Like uncoordinated pack mules, we drew some interesting looks on the 20-minute walk from the bus stop to our hostel. The problem we were facing was that the NZ post office planned to charge us $150 NZD (~$100 USD) to ship the box. After calling around to FedEx, UPS, and DHL, it became apparent that $150 NZD was actually a steal compared to $350, $450, and over $650 quoted by the other companies. No shit, $650 NZD to send a 15 pound box!!! Out of options, we bit the bullet as they say (who says this, I’m not actually sure), and walked from our hostel to the post office just in time to ship the box before they closed.

Dropping off Freddy - our universe-esque bags are piled in front.

Back at our hostel (which was awesome by the way), we microwaved the last of our van-life leftovers, blogged, and watched TV before turning in for the night. We caught an early morning bus back to the airport the next morning, where we discovered that our flight to Auckland was 4-hours delayed due to fog. Rut ro?! Nope, for once being thrifty paid off since we had a scheduled 8-hour layover at the Auckland airport before our flight to Borneo.

Sad to be leaving New Zealand.

Eastern Southern Alps, New Zealand South Island – May 3rd – 9th, 2017

After a long day of driving (through, you guessed it… stunning beautiful landscape) and a very very cold night (with ice on the inside of the windows in the morning), we made it to Tasman Valley. Here, we hiked the Tasman Lake Moraine Ridge where we glimpsed the distant Tasman glacier, which had mostly receded thanks to mother nature’s arch nemesis, global warming (aka humans). After checking out the glacier (and a few hilarious Asian tourist poses), we went off trail along the ridge and back to the van along a different track. Next, we made our way to White Horse Campground where we made camp in a stellar spot before hiking through Hooker Valley to the most incredible view of Mt. Cook! The entire hike was absurdly scenic (see photos for undeniable proof)!

Stunning beautiful landscape en route to Tasman valley.

Tasman Lake and White Horse Campground (bottom). 

Hooker Valley Track to Mt. Cook WOW!

Although our hiking legs already felt like jello, we pushed through and ascended to Sealy Tarns first thing in the morning. The 1800 feet of elevation gain between Freddy and Sealy Tarns, which by the way, is a few specs of water on the mountain side, is entirely climbed through, I don’t know… a billion stairs. Why did we climb a billion(ish) stairs to a few specs of water? The views! Holy crap, the views! To quote Scott, “the track up to the Sealy Tarns, oh-my-god, is a non-stop unfoldment of ever-improving moraine-breaching icefall-rumbling visual delight.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.  

Sealy Tarns and Andy's sweaty back. 

Legs now screaming, we were back on the road heading back towards Tekapo. We stopped along the way for a short walk along Lake Pukaki where we enjoyed skipping some rocks (utilizing perhaps the only part of our muscular structure that wasn’t cursing us). The water was crystal clear and glassy smooth, perfect for disrupting with rocks! After making our way around the lake, we ventured out on a 4WD dirt road to a perfect spot to camp along the lake. Without a soul in sight and a stunning sunset over the lake, we were in Kiwi heaven.   

Lake Pukaki and quite possibly our favorite campsite in NZ (it's stiff competition though). 

We took it easy the next morning (there is a first time for everything), and set out the camp chairs in the sun to read and relax. After an hour of that, we were bored, and decided to get going and go for another hike. Before heading out, we reluctantly tore apart Freddy to organize our stuff for our imminent departure from New Zealand (booooo!). The scenery along the short hike along Richmond trail was dry and mountainous which reminded us of Colorado (love). Back on the road, we stopped for a picnic lunch along the lake before driving about 3 hours to Lake Camp where we found a nice secluded spot to camp.

Richmond track, Lake Tekapo (with a statue in honor of the invaluable sheep dog), and Lake Camp (ironically, also where we camped). 

First thing in the morning, we drove to Mt. Sunday, more popularly known as Edoras, where Rohan was filmed in the Lord of the Rings movies. When we arrived, the valley was blanketed by a thick layer of clouds. Bummed, since the view is supposed to be spectacular, we started the hike anyway hoping that the clouds would clear. As luck would have it, when we reached the top, the clouds started to thin and eventually disappeared entirely, leaving us with a 360 degree view of the surrounding valley and distant mountains. Next, we ventured to out to the end of the road where we had a picnic near a Clydesdale horse farm. We mostly drove the afternoon away, eventually stopping to walk for an hour along Rakaia Gorge where a bright blue river meandered through a beautiful gorge. The lighting wasn’t great for photos, but our eyeballs enjoyed the eye candy regardless. Now dusk, we make our way to Lake Coleridge, where you apparently cannot camp (thanks a lot incorrect app). Now completely dark, we settled on camping near a different, smaller lake nearby, which didn’t have a toilet, but was quiet and completely uninhibited apart from us. But wait! Could that ancient sheet metal shack be a pit toilet ready to collect Andy’s morning deposit? YES! Lake Georgina turned out to be a perfect spot after all!

Mt. Sunday.

Rakaia Gorge and van laundry at Lake Georgina.

Next up on what turned out to be a week long hiking marathon, was Peak Hill Track, a steep, sweaty climb up to yet another stupendous view. Not gonna lie, the route was tough and the wind was howling towards the top, but the views made it well worth the effort. From the top, we were able to watch the farmers and their dogs herd thousands of sheep from the pastures below. Back at the van a few hours later one of my more embarrassing life incidents occurred. After months of training, I was putting my outdoor pee skills to good use, when a farmer drove by. In hindsight I should have just kept peeing and suffered mild embarrassment, but no, instead I attempted to break stream and pull my pants back up. Unfortunately, I really had to go, and cutting the stream did not happen. So, instead, I peed all over myself giving the farmer quite a show as I tripped over myself while peeing on my half pulled up pants. Let’s not discuss it further… I’m still mortified.  

Peak Hill Track. The white dots in the upper-right hand photo are sheep! 

Our last naturesque stop in New Zealand was Arthur’s Pass. We stopped briefly at Castle Hill along the way where part of the Chronicles of Narnia was filmed. The rounded rocks jutting out of the surrounding pastures made for a unique, yet very popular, landscape. Rather than fight the hordes of tourists snapping endless photos, we took a few photos from the road and continued up the pass. The drive was beautiful – the fact that we could still be impressed with the scenery after 6-weeks of jaw dropping beauty, means it was pretty great. We attempted to hike up to Devil’s Punchbowl falls, but the viewing platform was closed leaving us with only a marginal view from a distance. Our campsite was also less than ideal since we couldn’t leave the van without a full-on sand fly attack and signage warned of impending mouse invasion. Pest armies, what are you going to do? Although we were quarantined to the van, we made good use of our Chopped TV show experience, and cooked up a strange, but edible meal with all of our remaining food.

On our last day with Freddy (tear), we hiked the Bealey Spur track, which was correspondingly our last hike in New Zealand (sobbing). The 2.5-hour trek was nice, but clouds obstructed our view and we were anxious to get down to Christchurch to return Freddy to his birth family. Like good law-abiding citizens, we filled up the water tank, did the dishes, got Freddy juice, and dumped the grey-water before saying goodbye to the closest thing to a home we have had for almost 9 months (wailing).  

Arthur's Pass and Bealey Spur track.

South East Coast, New Zealand South Island – April 29th – May 3rd, 2017

What to do on a rainy day in Dunedin? Obviously, the answer is aqua jogging, followed by buying only the popcorn at the movie theater to watch Harry Potter in the van. Let me explain: As it was a Sunday, the alternative public showers were closed, leaving the public pool as the only option for ridding ourselves of the stench we had accumulated over the past week. If you are going to pay an admission fee though, you ought to make use of all the activities you are admitted to partake in. So, we swam, hot tubbed, water slid, aqua jogged, and showered. Admittedly, the aqua jogging took us a while to figure out. We watched the locals for a little while before attempting to bail, when we were forced to participate by the friendly lifeguard. You put on a flotation belt and run underwater, slowly circling the pool. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, especially when it takes 30 minutes of struggling to realize your flotation belts are on upside down. After showering, we drove around town, got groceries, and hit up the movie theater for some popcorn before settling in for a Harry Potter marathon in the van. Overall, a pretty grand rainy day.    

The skies had cleared by the morning, so we made our way to Baldwin Street – the steepest residential street in the world. Some dumbsh*t city planner had originally laid the street out on a grid, disregarding the fact that the landscape was hilly/mountainous. Although some streets were adjusted during construction, Baldwin Street was constructed using concrete instead of asphalt, since gravity caused the asphalt to slide down the hill before solidifying. It was not hard to believe that the short residential street was indeed, the steepest in the world.

Baldwin Street and the drive from the Catlins, including a stupid steep dirt road which we had to attempt twice (the first time Freddy was in the wrong gear.) It was steeper in real life than the picture shows. 

Next, we made our way to Aramoana, about an hour away. The road to get there was literally a foot from the water’s edge. Perhaps the same city planner was involved in that route too... It was an incredibly beautiful drive though and completely off the beaten tourist track. Once in Aramoana, we explored the beaches, attempted to climb up an arch (but got scared when the route got tougher and I looked down and realized that falling would not be pleasant), and hiked to Heyward Point. In our opinion, the hike was one of the best in New Zealand! Not only were we completely alone for most of the trek, but the views were stunning, and the animal life was abundant, to say the least. Once at the plateau at Heyward Point, we looked down the cliff to find several hundred seals playing in the pools below. After watching them for a while, we made our way to the other side of the plateau where more seals were basking in the sunshine. But wait, is that a cat down there?! It is! There was a cat living amongst the seals! How the cat got there was a complete mystery – we were at least 3 miles from the closest house and there was absolutely no way the cat could have climbed in or out of the steep cliff faces surrounding the bay. Perhaps he fell in and was adopted by the seals who seemed to treat him like one of the colony. The cat looked perfectly healthy and happy so we took a bunch of adorable photos and left the seal-cat family in order to return to the comforts of Freddy.

The beach at Aramoana and my failed attempt to reach the arch.

The Headland Track to Heyward Point. 

Wildlife at Heyward Point.

Seal-cat family!

After a pleasant night camping at the beach, we left the splendor of Aramoana, stopping at Port Chalmers on the way for wifi, coffee (Andy’s addicted), and scones (I’m addicted). A few hours later, we made it to Shag Point where dinosaur eggs littered the beach. Yup, dinosaur eggs. Not only do they look like dinosaur eggs, but on the inside of each of these crazy spherical rocks, is a fossil that the boulder built itself around. Inside one of these Katiki boulders (the legit name), an 8-meter (26-ft) long plesiosaur dinosaur skeleton was found – NZ’s largest fossil! Yay geology! After not shagging at Shag Point, we went to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are the same as the Katiki boulders at Shag Point, but situated on a beach rather than embedded in the tidal shelf. The only other difference was the hoard of mostly-Asian tourists who accompanied us at the Moeraki Boulders. Last up for the day, was a visit to Katiki Point Lighthouse where Scott said we should be able to spot some endangered YEPs (yellow eyed penguins). He was right! It was incredible! There were penguins, seals, and bunnies galore! All co-existing in one happy penguin-bunny-seal family (no cat though)! Loved it!    

Sunrise at Aramoana and the adorable town of Port Chalmers.  

Shag Point.  

Moeraki boulders and all of our Asian tourist friends.

The harmonious penguin-bunny ecosystem at Katiki Point.

The modeling animal life at Katiki Point... oh, and the stunning scenery and lighthouse!

The Catlins, New Zealand South Island – April 26th – 29th, 2017

To be completely honest, after the stunning beauty of the past month, the Catlins region was a bit of a letdown. The lack of crowds was a definite plus, but the wind, rain, and pretty (rather than breathtaking) views all tallied in the cons column. Regardless of my negative review, I must admit that our first stop, Clifden Cave, was actually really cool. We spent about an hour splashing, scrambling, and squeezing through the dark caverns of the uncommercialized cave only to exit about 300 meters away (although we traveled about a mile underground to get there). Loved it! Next, we had lunch at the isolated and appropriately named "Cosy Nook" surrounded by crashing waves. Then we walked briefly through Mores Reserve to a beautiful 360 degree viewpoint over the Riverton region and surrounding islands. The same could not be said for the next site, which was literally just a sign at Stirling Point marking the “lands end” (meaning the southern tip of the island). Yawn. We did drive up to a viewpoint though which was quite beautiful.

Clifden Cave, Cozy Nook, Mores Reserve, and Stirling Point. 

The next day, we ventured to Waipapa Lighthouse where the wind was blowing so strong that we struggled to stay upright. We enjoyed taking hilarious (well we think they are hilarious) photos of us jumping into the wind and getting blown several feet backwards. The painful unintended downside was that the resulting knots in my hair took a significant amount of time reconciling. After driving another couple of hours, we decided to do what would turn out to be the worst hike in New Zealand. Although we were feeling a little “hiked-out” to begin with, we decided to push through since Scott said, and I quote, that Waipohatu Loop Walk is the “Catlins best day hike loop.” For the first time, we found ourselves cursing Scott’s name. The two-hour hike to two unimpressive waterfalls was torture. There was so much mud that we had to tip-toe and slosh through the entire trail with only overgrown jungle with the occasional bird to mollify us. Not only were we not impressed, we were not in a good mood by the time we finished. The only way we can justify Scott’s, “best day hike loop” tagline is that perhaps it is the only day hike loop in the Catlins. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Fortunately, there is one sure way to tame a foul mood – PENGUINS (or in this case, penguin singular)! We spotted an endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin (YEP) at the coastal petrified forest (which was also ridiculously cool).

The Catlins takes "wind" to a whole new level.

Left: The worst hike in New Zealand. Right: View from the petrified forest, a petrified tree in the coastal rock, and a YUP! 

We chose to forgive and forget Scott’s blunder regarding Waipohatu, and trust him when it came to Cathedral Cave. He suggested we ditch the crowds at the main cave and venture around the next outcrop to a few hidden sea eroded crack caves. Although it was just after low tide, the route around the outcrop of rocks was treacherous. Andy managed to scramble over moss covered rocks and reach the beach only wet to the knee, while I chose the faster more efficient route and just walked straight through the ocean emerging wet to the hips (I suppose this says something about our personalities). The caves were, as promised, abandoned and more than a little eerie. With only a cell phone light, we ventured into the narrow cave which tapered smaller and smaller until it eventually dead ended in the dark abyss. I was relieved to find the cave uninhabited… I was expecting zombies. Now low tide plus about 45 minutes, we attempted to return to the first (and largest) cave, but both of us ended up soaked this time around – any later and we may have had to swim. The main tourist cave was also super cool. The water had eroded a massive semi-circular cave, with both mouths on the same beach about a football field’s length apart. The surrounding scenery was pretty great too: jungle clad hills connecting a fine yellow sand beach.    

Cathedral Caves.

We continued to drive around the southern tip, eventually stopping at Cannibal Bay, where you can commonly glimpse sea lions on the beach. At first glance, Cannibal Bay was a fail, but then we spotted some rock looking objects in the distance and decided to take a walk along the beach to check it out. We were not disappointed! There were about 20 sea lions who ignored us completely and went about their business napping, swimming, or annoying one another for fun. At one point a gigantic male starting waddling right towards us (they are surprisingly fast) to go squash his girlfriend/wife who was sleeping on the beach. After dashing out of the way, I got the entire thing on video!    

Waikawa campsite and Cannibal Bay.

So, although I started this post a bit negative, I now realize, after writing it, that we did indeed have a pretty great time in the Catlins. Perhaps not because of the scenery or the weather, but thanks to the wildlife!   

Milford Sound, New Zealand South Island – April 25th – April 26th, 2017

Milford Sound is iconic must-see New Zealand. After all of the amazing off the map places we’d already visited in New Zealand, we thought there was a good chance that the beauty of Milford Sound was tourist inflated. Although that’s likely the case for the overpriced 2-hour cruise that the boat companies want you to believe is necessary, the drive, stopping points along the drive, and views of the sound from land were nothing less than astounding. New Zealand never ceases to disappoint us. I guess some places are simply touristy for a reason.

The drive between Te Anau and Milford Sound.

We stopped at several places along the out-and-back road to the sound. Our first stop was a quick hike to a walkwire. A walkwire is exactly as it sounds: a wire that you walk on in lieu of a bridge. Although it may not sound exciting, for people that have a thing for suspension bridges, a walkwire took the over-water experience to a whole new level. Loved it! Next, we stopped at Gertrude Valley where we did a 2-hour hike through a gorgeous valley to a glacier waterfall where water cascaded over a mossy cliff. Although the hike was incredible, the spat which ensued because I got left in the dust and ended up taking the wrong trail was less than fun. No folks, even marital bliss has its moments in travel paradise… especially when you spend every second together for 10 months straight. Poor Paige… Anyway, back on the road, we next made our way through the 3/4 mile long Homer Tunnel. Besides the fact that tunnels are cool, this one was extra fun because it was dug at a steep angle and the scenery and weather was dramatically different on opposite sides of the mountain. Now at Milford Sound, we walked around in awe of the scenery, took far too may photos, and explored the low tide splendor. On the return journey, we stopped at the Chasm, an amazing waterfall which has cut crazy patterns and designs into the surrounding rock, as well as Marian Cascade, a nice river viewpoint where we managed some long exposure shots with my fancy new camera. After a very long day, we made camp at Cascade Creek, where we smuggled in Paige (she actually hid under the table covered in a towel) to avoid a very pricey night of self-contained camping… yes, yes, it was immoral, but the $40 price tag seemed exorbitant for a parking spot and a port-a-potty. Bending the rules isn’t breaking them, right?  

NZ walkwire. While on the hike, a bird found my shoe fascinating and kept jumping on it to peck at the yellow color. 

Gertrude Valley Track.

Milford Sound!

The Chasm and Marian Cascade walks. The middle picture shows hideaway Paige.

First thing in the morning, we completed the drive back to Te Anau where we were forced to say goodbye to Paige, who was flying out on her way to Central America (tough life for us travelers). After picking up some groceries, we did a trail run on a flat-ish, well-maintained portion of the Kepler Track. We ran about 4-miles through a beautiful rainforest to Shallow Bay before returning at a walk back to Freddy. It felt good to run. 

Run along a portion of the Kepler Track.

South Lakes Region, New Zealand South Island – April 20th – 24th, 2017

First stop in the South Lakes region was Rob Roy Glacier for the 4-hour long valley track. The hike was super rewarding with incredible glacier and waterfall views. I also had a demoralizing grown up moment, when I scolded two tweener boys for being destructive to the environment (they were attempting to destroy a tree with rocks). Their parents were nowhere to be found and likely their newly discovered testosterone was to blame for their distructo-man behavior. When their parents arrived, the family walked past and one of the kids stealth flipped me the bird! Seriously?!?!! I immediately marched down from the rock we were perched on and confronted the parents about their kids’ behavior (grown up moment #2). The parents were livid and made the boy apologize. It was very uncomfortable for both of us. Him because he had to apologize to a fun-killing tattle tale and me because I realized that I’m old.

Pictures from the drive to Rob Roy Glacier.

Rob Roy Glacier valley track.

Rob Roy Glacier.

After the hike, we spent a couple of hours walking around the picturesque town of Wanaka. We admired the fall colors and ate veggie pies and hot cross buns from a local bakery. Next, we made our way to Queenstown where we fought through rush hour traffic, went shoe shopping, filled up with gas, got pulled over by the local authorities, and went grocery shopping. Oh, did I gloss over that? Yes, we got pulled over – or rather Andy got pulled over and was asked to give a breathalyzer because he forgot to turn Freddy’s lights on. The policeman was super friendly though, especially after it was confirmed that Andy was indeed not drunk. He even stayed for a while and chatted with us about our least favorite topic of conversation… US politics. Even the cops in New Zealand are friendly!

Wanaka, Cadrona, and the drive to Queenstown.

That night, we camped in a crowded dirt parking lot with nasty pit toilets before getting up early to ride the Shotover Jet. We had previously never heard of these marvelously powerful, agile speed boats that are capable of reaching dangerously high speeds, turning on a dime, and soaring over water only 4 inches deep, but Scott assured us it was THE adventure activity to do in Queenstown. Although the ride was cold, it was exhilarating! The speed boat captain navigated a narrow slot canyon at surprisingly high speeds coming within inches of the rock wall and periodically doing 360’s! I felt very secure in the driver’s ability until someone asked what he had done before becoming a Shotover Jet boat driver and he responded, “Drove a bus.” Yup, he had been a bus driver prior to being tasked with keeping 20 tourists alive while skirting death in an overpowered boat. Anyway… we survived and it was so much fun that my cheeks hurt afterwards from smiling.

Shotover Jet and the views in Queenstown.

To continue our morning spending spree, we went into Queenstown and bought over-priced shoes to replace my decrepit ones that were holding on by a string (likely, a shoe string). They were full of holes and the soles were worn completely flat. One might say they were passing on holy and soulless (hardy har har har, bad joke). I was sad to let my old standby shoes go, but then again traction was going to be a fun new experience while tramping New Zealand.

Lucky for us, the shoe salesman queued us in to the Autumn Festival that was taking place in Arrowhead, just a half hour away, and conveniently located near our planned afternoon activities. We strolled through the festival, admiring the local handicrafts and gorging on free samples. It was a perfect day: 75 degrees, clear skies, warm sun, and real fruit frozen yogurt! After the festival, we went to watch people jump off a bridge. Being the adventure capital of New Zealand, Queenstown is known for adrenalin pumping fun. It is therefore unsurprising that Queenstown was the founding place for bungie jumping. We spent a couple of hours at the bridge where it all started watching people take the plunge. We would have liked to join them, but the price tag was a bit high for thrusting yourself off a bridge. With some quality laughs under our belts (some of the female Asian sky divers were hilarious), we drove up to the Remarkables Ski Field and hiked up to Shadow Basin Lookout. Although the 2-hour hike was steep and exhausting the views over Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown were definitely worth it. Back in Queenstown, we visited a pub to watch some of the pro rugby match. Being that we have no idea how to play rugby, the wiki instructions were confusing, and we were dog tired from a long day, we only stayed for about a half hour (just long enough to chow down on some potato wedges). 

Arrowhead Festival and bungie jumping at the Kawarau Bridge (the birthplace of commercial bungie jumping).

Shadow Basin Lookout at the Remarkables Ski Area.

The view from Shadow Basin Lookout.

The next day, we made our way to Glenorchy. Apart from the stunning drive (which was actually the highlight), we enjoyed two shortish hikes: one at Bob’s Cove which followed a small peninsula overlooking two beautiful blue coves and the other at Chinaman Bluff where we did part of the Dart-Rees track along the river. We also spent a considerable amount of time at a nearby campground taking showers, doing laundry, and stealing the wifi (yes, Andy and Paige really did steal the code from behind the camp manager’s desk – I was a completely innocent third party witness to their heinous crime). Our camp spot at Chinaman's Bluff, although beautiful, was infested with sand flies. There were literally thousands of them crashing into the van like zombies from the Walking Dead. Sand flies are without a doubt the one dark spot in the blinding bright light that is New Zealand. These small flies are devil beings that bite leaving behind itchy hive-like horribleness that doesn’t go away for weeks. No, I’m not exaggerating, I still have the marks 6 weeks later as I write this (spare me, I know we’re SO far behind!).  

Bob's Cove hike.

Glenorchy. In addition to having a fun name, the town itself is gorgeous! 

Chinaman's Bluff.

Our final day around the South Lakes region was mostly spent driving south towards Milford Sound. We stopped for the night in Lumsden where we camped at a cute old railway station across the street from the public library (with free wifi) and a grocery store. So convenient! 

Views from the drive south towards Te Anau.

South West Coast, New Zealand South Island – April 18th – 20th, 2017

After a few more hours of driving past Greymouth (where we last left off), we visited a glowworm dell in Hokitika. We had no idea what to expect, I mean, what is a “dell” anyway? To the extreme annoyance of our fellow tourists, we walked in headlights shining strong. Apparently, dell was just a fancy way of saying the overhanging rock faces lining the trail where thousands of glowworms lit the path. The bright butts of the worms made headlamps not only unnecessary, but off-putting too. Oops… guess we should have read the signboard before leaving the parking lot. I attempted to take some long exposure pictures with our new fancy pants camera, but without a tripod the pictures just turned out to be black with small blurry blue specs. Note to self, buy portable tripod for Dandy’s Grand Adventure round 2.

Without a visible sign prohibiting camping, we assumed that the rugby field in Hokitika was fair game for an overnight stop en route to Franz Josef Glacier. Our presumption was confirmed (or at a minimum, our illegal camping went unnoticed by the local authorities), when we woke up without a $200 ticket. When we finally arrived at Westland Tai Poutini National Park around noon, it was pouring rain. Our plan was to hike up Robert’s Point to an overlook for Franz Josef Glacier. Although we considered changing plans when we read what Scott wrote: “The track is rough, rocky and steep—superb for fit trampers in fine weather, but maybe best to avoid it in wet weather,” we instead chose to ignore Scott’s advice and do the 5-hour hike anyway. This should come as no surprise, to those of you that know us well. In this instance, we lucked out. The weather cleared and the hike turned out to be incredible (although rough, rocky, steep (and wet) was an accurate description). The overlook was stunning, with spectacular views of the glacier as well as a waterfall that was about 1800 feet tall! It was crazy (and sad) to see how far the glacier has receded in the past 5-years though.

Had a little fun at the dump station in Ross. I didn't quite make the timer the first time around. Andy's facial expressions were priceless! 

Robert's Point trek to Franz Joseph Glacier.

Franz Joseph Glacier from Robert's Point. 

Forced to pay to camp in the town of Glacier, we woke up in the morning, enjoyed unlimited time hot showers (such a luxury) and like rebels, moved to a powered site to charge our electronics and use the internet. We left a few minutes after checkout (rebel move again) and drove to Fox Glacier where we did the quick valley track to a viewpoint. The glacier has receded so much in the past decade that the trail has had to be extended periodically and is still quite far from the glacier giving meh views in comparison to the views of Franz Josef Glacier from Robert’s Point. Before continuing south, we ventured out to a viewpoint in the plains overlooking the mountains and glaciers. It was once again “stupid beautiful” and we enjoyed getting a different perspective on the scale and beauty of the mountain range from a distance.

Fox Glacier valley track.

Fox Glacier from a distance.

Eventually veering from the coast, we drove Haast Pass towards Wanaka. We made many quick stops along the way including Thunder Creek waterfall, Fantail Falls, Wilson Creek bridge and slot canyon, and the Blue Pools. All were enjoyable in their own right, but as we have been incredibly spoiled when it comes to waterfalls, we were only really impressed by the Blue Pools – which were exactly as they sound… blue pools. Not just blue though, they are B-L-U-E! Super cool, as usual, the pictures don’t do it justice.    

Haast Pass.

Blue Pools at Haast Pass.