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3/02/03 Nelson, Paradiso
First day
alone and not too bad. Got into Nelson from Christchurch and
went straight to Paradiso. Talked to a number of people but
feels too busy and a bit posy, not really like the cool place
I remember. My main aim for NZ is to do as many walks as possible,
with some time for drinking and socializing I guess. JD is coming
over in a week for three weeks which should be cool...
10/02/03
Nelson Paradiso
Back at
Paradiso after doing the Heaphy Track, which was very good really.
Got the bus early (7.00 am) to the start of the track. I was
the only left one we reached the trailhead, not what I had expected
as it is a very popular trail, but there you go.
 The
first day is a steady climb for about 4 hours. Scenery is OK
but mostly through forest and there is not that much to see.
Along the way overtook Mike and Gill, a couple from Nelson,
the a group of five (two couples, one guy on his own) from Wellington.
We all met up in the hut (Perry Saddle), together with a nice
Canadian girl and her French friend, as well as an older (80s)
English woman. It was pretty cool, just talking to the Wellington
group and the Nelson couple. Kevin had been to Antarctica for
a few seasons so I quizzed him about that as I plan to go there
in the next few years. Gill was working for a Nelson adventure
sports college, they do a 2 year degree in rafting, hiking,
sea-kayaking and snowboarding, how cool is that, if only I had
know 1o years ago…
Went for
a dip in the waterhole but at 900 meters in near freezing temperature
it was a short dip. Chatted to the Canadian girl lots, but unfortunately
they just went up for the night and had to go down early next
morning to organise a Visa for the States, bummer. Moved to
the kitchen during the night as Kevin was snoring badly.
Second
day I was walking in the clouds unfortunately, with little views.
As I was on my own I was walking quite fast as well, just thinking
about what to do with my life. Passing through a very nice bit
of mossy green rainforest just after Goulands Down Hut, but
too dark for good photos.
Had a nice
evening with the same group as day one, played a game where
you had to put a sticker on your head with the name of a famous
person and you have to guess who it is. I had Marco Polo and
it took me about 50 questions to get it because I went of the
wrong track, pissed off with myself but not as bad as the guy
who did not get Albert Einstein. Most amazing starts out that
night, but no sleep again due to French guy snoring badly.
Day three,
from Mackay Hut to Heaphy hut was pretty good; the track reaches
the Heaphy River about half way and then follows it to the coast.
The weather had cleared by then, blue skies for the rest of
the day and I stopped for about one hour at Lewis hut to take
some pictures of lush green rainforest (none of which was any
good, as it turned out).
The Heaphy
hut is in perfect location, just where the Heaphy meets the
river, wild looking West Coast scenery, and I just found a nice
spot on the beach and read for a few hours. Met Phil that night,
guy from England, 39, but looks and acts younger, basically
he had travelled a lot and never really settled down, until
he recently emigrated to Australia. He gave me the name of the
company that got him in (Concept Australia) and said that they
have never taken anyone one that consequently not got in.
Walked
out the next day along coastal stunning scenery, then got the
bus with Phil to the last resort at Karomea(?). Cool place for
20$, and we had a few beers with Marc and Gill to celebrate
the end of the walk.
 Next
day we got the bus to Westport, then decided to hitchhike back
to Nelson which turned out to be good fun. First ride was with
a young chap that had just done the Westport half marathon,
then got a lift with a mum/daughter combination, daughter was
a flight attendant, very nice and foxy. Last lift from Richmond
to Nelson was with a bus driver who was on her way home, dropped
us off right in front of the hostel. Next day did a marathon
10 hour walk up to MT Dun and back, today have sore feet, not
doing much, just waiting for J.D. to arrive.
23/2/2003
Queenstown, NZ
So it has
been a while. What can I remember? Met up with JD and the first
few days were a bit, well, not that harmonic. I guess I got
used to doing my own thing I guess and JD and his 'Ulster Way'
was kind of getting to me. But after a while I chilled out and
went with the Ulster way regardless of whether it was sensible
or not. Went out in Nelson, Thai food, followed by Vicky Rose,
followed by one of the clubs, but not quite the good times I
remembered from the last trip to Nelson.
Next came
the Abel Tasman walk, which I had done before but JD hadn't.
The weather was fine, plenty of sweating with heavy packs (JD
again the winner with 20+ kilos), but the walk was also very
busy with lots of day walkers hogging the beaches. First night
we camped next to two German girls who rented sea-kayaks for
a couple of days, and an English couple that packed in their
jobs (Cap Gemini I think) to go travelling for a  year.
They were all pretty cool and we had a few laughs but as we
were all going our separate ways the next day nobody made too
much effort.
Was impressed
with the sea-kayaks though and definitely have to do a longer
trip one of those years.
Second
night we stayed at Awaroa Campground next to a group of girls
who were all studying at Dundee university and did the hike
the week before semester starts. Always makes me think that
it is a shame that young people in the UK don't really do that
kind of thing, it is all shopping, drinking, going out, watching
TV etc., only older people seem to take the time and effort
to do longer walks, but there you go…
Went for
a swim across the lagoon, a bit scary as the tide was going
out pretty fast and we had to swim across a deep bit which was
flowing fast, and there were quiet a few jelly-fish around as
well. Met a nice couple from North of Auckland, both pilots
on a week holiday, he was fishing, she was drinking wine, just
chilling out on the beach, again made me think that this would
be pretty cool lifestyle.
 Third
day we had lunch at Totaranui and then north to set up camp
at Mutton Cove, very scenic and no more crowds. Went up to Separation
Point to check out the seal colony, but very few seals about
and the only young one we found was scared and hid under a rock,
not like the cute little poser I Photographed two year ago at
the same spot.
Last day
was an easy walk out to Wainui where we got the bus back to
Nelson for some well-deserved beers.
Next day
flew to Christchurch (tiny plane, but good weather), then the
next day on to Queenstown to start the Rees-Dart tramp. We expected
it to be busy but as it turned out the only person with us on
the bus to the trailhead was Maurice, a young Dutch chap who
had worked on a farm in Christchurch for a while.
For once
the weather was a real problem with snow and rain forecasted
for the next few days (mmhh, maybe that's why the bus was so
empty…). Day one started off well enough though with a
stunning walk up the Rees-valley, one of the finest views in
New Zealand in my opinion. There were lots of dark clouds hanging
over the mountains but for the first few hours we had sunshine
in the valley. Soon after our lunch stop though the  clouds
moved in and it soon started to rain pretty heavy. We were glad
to reach the hut in daylight and very glad to get the fire going
as by then temperatures had dropped and we were pretty wet and
cold. We thought it was just three of us staying the night,
but late in the evening a American/Finish couple turned up,
pretty knackered as they had twice tried to cross over the Rees
pass but in the end had to turn back as the winds were too strong.
The second
day started OK, the weather had improved a lot over night, though
it was still pretty cold. We got up to the pass OK, cold, but
there was no wind or rain yet again after lunch the weather
turned and by the time we reached the (closed)Dart hut it was
snowing heavy. We originally planned to camp two nights at Dart
Hut and go up Cascade saddle on day three, but the weather forecast
was not encouraging and as it was only 2.00 p.m. we decided
instead to crack on to the next hut down in the Dart Valley.
 This
was a long slog, we had walked about 6 hours already and knew
there was another 4 at least to go, and it just rained and rained
and rained. We did not talk much really, just keeping up a good
pace and thinking about life and weather and how much nice the
walk would be in sunshine. Got to the hut eventually, of course
it was packed by then as everyone was coming off the mountains,
but it was a friendly crowd and I stayed up late taking to a
couple of Australians who had just come back from hiking in
Europe.
The last
day was equally wet and again we just kind of walked to get
out and have a nice shower in Queenstown. So all in all I guess
the walk was only partially successful, yet in terms of potential
I would say it is the best walk I have done in NZ. The scenery
is as good as on the Routeburn, but it is a much tougher walk
and consequently there are fewer people. Next time I am in NZ
it will be on the top of my list.
So back
to Queenstown we went for five day of R&R. It was a good
spell, we stayed at Bumbles as the Hippo Lodge was full and
just as I was coming back from a run a young German girl comes
up to me and just said if I would like to go out for some beers
that evening. We met an Kiwi girl at the hostel as well, so
the four of us went out to the Cow for pizza and then on tow
some pub and stayed there drinking and chatting until we got
kicked out at 2.00 in the morning. Antonia, the German girl,
had basically escaped from Eastern Germany to the West when
she was six years old, hiding at the bottom of a van, all that
three weeks before the wall came down.
Went to
bed drunk, slept in the next day before meeting Sarah (the Kiwi
girl) for a trip up to Ben Lomond.  Cloudy,
cold, but occasional breaks in the clouds gave some stunning
views and made the trip worthwhile. Back in Queenstown met up
with Maurice, his Russian friend, Tony and Sarah for more beers,
more talk and some interesting discussion about relationships
and Russian saunas.
Another
rest day followed, not much happened, too hung over, played
mini golf, then went out with Tony (German girl), Tony (old
guy from hostel) and Kate (English girl) for beers and a couple
of hours of pool. A quick word about Kate tough, pretty cool,
in the early thirties, she changed career paths from being a
math teacher to become an IT contractor, had a few good contracts
and was now flying hang-gliding competitions around the world.
Very energetic and bouncy, made me laugh a lot and hopefully
will meet up with her in Queenstown after our next walk.
26/2/03
McKellar Hut, Greenstone Track
So on to
the final walk with JD, good weather predicted all week, great.
The bus to the start of the track was full, but mostly older
people and a few couples, not the young energetic crows we had
hoped for.
The first
day was quite easy, very scenic, following the Routeburn River
upstream, a bit of a climb at the top but rewarded with a shower
under the ice-cold waterfalls at Routeburn hut. The hut takes
about 50 people, too many, and there are too many small tables
so groups tend to stick to each other a lot. Had a quiet dinner,
JD reading 'Lunch with the Generals', which he got of me. Got
chatting to some Americans in the end, a friendly couple from
New York who were doing the walk with their kids, talked about
immigration, business, politics etc.  until
it was bed time, best sleep for ages as no alcohol available.
Day
2 Routeburn Falls - McKenzie Hut
A tired
start, we were both quiet, and things got worse when I chucked
some snow at JD and hit him in the back of the head, not talking
to me for the next hour. But he was OK again once we had reached
the saddle and climbed up to Conical Hill, pretty good views
of surrounding mountain ranges. Briefly chatted to an English
family who had all arranged their holidays to get four weeks
off together to come to New Zealand, then off to Lake McKenzie.
As beautiful as I remembered, what a location for a hut, went
up to the Split Rock, the on into Emily Valley where I took
about 20 photos of the surrounding mountains. Swim in the lake
was brief as water was painfully cold. JD was reading that evening
so I ended up chatting to a nice Portuguese/Dutch couple, and
Israelian girl (who said all Australian guys are simple and
stupid???) and a nice Kiwi guy who gave me loads of tune…yummmm…
Day
3 to McKellar Hut
Very nice
day again, quick walk down to Howden Hut, side trip up to
Key Summit (lots of pictures), then on to McKellar. On the
way went past a beautiful stream with lots of mossy stones,
all in perfect light, took about 20 shots, determined to get
that perfect postcard stream-through-rainforest kind of shot,
but as it turned out they  were
all crap. Lake McKellar is in a pretty cool location again,
next to the Greenstone river, some amazing spots for swimming
(and water surprisingly warm), only problem was that there
was 16 bunks, but 32 people, so I guess it will be pretty
cozy tonight.
1/3/03
Queenstown
Well, I
guess it was pretty OK that night after all. We were all just
settling in when 2 more people arrived, two German girls that
had come from the Caples track. Wed did not really talk much
at first, in fact first impressions were bad as they straight
away put their sleeping bags on the last two remaining mattresses
although other people had been there longer (so much for the
reputations of Germans and towels on deck chairs…). So
anyway we got talking in the end and they were OK. One of them,
Liza, was kind of in your face, pretty direct, but in a funny
kind of way, and all evening she was winging about having to
root-hope through the mud all day long. The other one, Elena,
was, well, kind of very cute, in a big brown puppy eyes kind
of way, but anyway the four of us sat up for a while just doing
the normal kind of where have you been to where are you going
kind of talk. Bad night though as I had to sleep on the floor
and people started packing up at about six in the morning, boiling
water right above our heads.
Day
4 McKellar hut - ?
Off next
day to a little category 3 hut just off the Track, where we
met Maas Phil, a pretty cool Danish guy who hung out with us
for the rest of the day. Spent some time floating down some
rapids in the river just past the hut, good fun. Night was terrible
though as a group of older hikers arrived and one of the women
was snoring louder than Jim on the Overland Track, something
I doubted was possible.
Next day
left for the final stretch to the Greenstone car park, easy
downhill walking, but mostly in the forest.  Said
good-bye to Mats who went on to the Caples, caught up with the
Dutch women and her daughter who we had seen on/off during the
last few days, and also caught up with Liza and Elena, arranged
to go for drinks that night in Queenstown.
Queenstown
28/2/03
So the
four of us met at the Cow for dinner, all very nice, then on
to the Irish bar where we met Kate and Monica (Swiss girl from
our hostel), then on to McNeils, followed by the World for some
jumping around to dancy music. Then on to the pool hall before
that shut at 2:00 am, then on to Geckos's for more dancing (lots
of pissed people head banging to Nirvana, especially Monica)
and more beer then on to some late night bar (lost Monica and
Kate somewhere along the way) for even more beers and tequilas.
Ended up sitting for while at the river front, talking about
life, but could not find any more booze and finally left about
six to go back to the rooms for about three hours sleep. A very
good night, though Peter's 'It is better to regret doing something
that not having tried' rings true.
Next
day was a bit of an anticlimax, JD left early in the morning
to go back to work in the UK, I tried to sleep in the afternoon
but couldn't, then met up with Liza and Elena for a game of
mini golf followed by 'Gangs of New York, a pretty crap film
I think we all agreed. Said good bye to Elena and Liza, sad
to see them go, maybe meet them again one day but making and
loosing friends seems so easy when you travel.
Left early
with Kate to the Nelson lakes, via Christchurch. Interesting
night in CHCH, got drunk with two American blokes (one was a
real ass) and a nice German guy (contractor, looking for work
in Wellington) listening to a pretty cool local band, Kate jumping
round. Next day long bus ride to StArnaud, before starting the
Traverse-Sabine Walk.
The walk
was pretty good, all in all. A bit too much forest, the alpine
parts not that dramatic, but we had good weather, mostly good
company, and as always there was lots if nice swimming in lakes
and rivers as well as a 10m+ jump into a gorge with amazing
crystal blue water.
The people?
Kate, obviously, I got to know pretty well. Definitely different,
energetic, playing the clown a bit, but good fun to be with
and a good hiking partner. She had blisters, a sore hip, dodgy
knee, a pack that did not fit, but she hardly complained, very
impressive. We talked a lot while walking, about everything,
often arguing but never really falling out. Got an email from
Antonia, saying she wanted to meet up in Picton, so we talked
about that as well. Met Garry, a Yorkshire guy working in Blacks
in Leeds, and Sarah, an English girl who wanted to immigrate
to New Zealand.
Met Yossi
and Michael, two Israeli guys, quietly spoken but dead on, talked
a lot about the Israeli/Palestine conflict, the Dusky Track
(why did I not do it?) and god and the world. One of the best
parts of the whole trip was jumping off a little footbridge
into the river far below, very scary, very cold; I had never
jumped off anything  so
high in my life, but after Yossi and Michael jumped I felt I
had to as well, and went back for more.
Met Petra,
a 33-year old German girl who had fallen in love with a 19 year
old Columbian guy she met at the language school in Auckland,
and now wanted to go and live with him in Columbia (did not
really work out as I found out later).
So good
fun, lots of talking and walking in beautiful scenery, healthy
and happy living.
Anyway,
left Kate at Blenheim (sad good-bye, especially after she was
feeling very ill that day), hitched to Picton (one hour wait
before some nice old lady gave me a lift) and met up with Antonia.
The day we had together was fun, we cooked (she cooked) the
first proper meal I had in ages, had plenty of wine and talked
talked talked until about three in the morning. Next day took
the ferry together to Wellington for another sad good-bye and
on I went on a long bus journey to Stratford for the MT Taranaki
circuit.
The trip
to Mt Taranaki was pretty uneventful really, lots of loud local
kids on the bus, stopped of at McDonaldsfor a disgusting meal.
Arrived late, got a lift of someone to Taranaki Backpackers
in Stratford, a former nursing home now run by Roger. Had a
room to myself for the first time since I left the UK, peace
and quiet, great.
Next day
started the round the mountain hike, rushing a bit as I only
had 2 days to complete it. I was on my own the whole day. Did
not meet a soul, a bit scary really as I was high up in the
mountain, it was cloudy, windy and wet and the path was the
worst maintained I had come across in New Zealand.
Glad to
finally arrive in at the hut, no one was there, so I lit the
fire, put the mattress in front of it and read until it got
dark.
Next day
was gorgeous weather, but a lot of walking ,about 9 hours
in the heat, the scenery was impressive though and I met a
nice Israeli couple, the first human contact in over 30 hours.
The last
day I went up MT Taranaki, a bit harder than I thought. It was
pretty good going the first two hours, but then I kind of collapsed,
feeling dizzy (because I had all the chocolate bars on the first
day, greedy thing I am), but made it to the top OK, just in
time before the clouds came in.
Got a lift
from a very German couple on the way off the mountain, lucky
though as there was no other car in the car park. Had a few
beers back at the lodge, talked to a few of the local residents
(crazy dudes) but all in all a quiet evening.
Auckland
The bus trip to Auckland was good, 6.30 -12:00 p.m., talked
a bit to an old farmer about Asians coming into the country,
crime etc. Got to Auckland and went to City Garden Lodge, a
nice old former summer home of some Tongan Queen, Met up with
Liza that night, a few beers and then down to a pool hall as
I could not get in anywhere else with my shorts and flip-flops.
Next day met her again for lunch, then off to the airport to
fly to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.
At the
airport met Phil in the check-in queue, a young Kiwi guy working
for KPMG going to the Cook islands for a week long business
trip, mmmhhh, why do I have to go to StNeots and Bedford?
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