Extended Absence

I'm now on the north island. This is one of the best 1 days walks in all of NZ, and it shows by the numbers of people that tackle it daily. This walk features a hike through alpine terraine, finishing in hot springs and finally forest. It was staggeringly gorgeous. Anyone who goes to NZ should do this.

# posted by Vijay : 5:12 p.m. |

Marlborough Sound is a couple hours east of Nelson, and is home to one of the best known wine growing areas in New Zealand. Unfortunalely, I was bushed and had little time, so a tour was out of the question. I spent a couple days at a beautiful lodge just off the Queen Charlotte Track. There were no roads leading out to the lode; it was only accessable from the water. I was pretty wasted still from Abel Tasman so it was just maxin' and relaxin' before leaving for the north island.

# posted by Vijay : 5:04 p.m. |

Just west of Nelson on the north end of the south island lies Abel Tasman National park, and yet another great walk in the Abel Tasman Track. I took a watertaxi 3/4 of the way up the track to Awaroa and did the walk south back over a couple days, staying the night at a hut. It is a great track, particularly for a novice tramper like myself. The track winds along the coast and crosses a number of beaches. The weather was nothing short of fabulous, a good break from the Fox Glacier disaster.

# posted by Vijay : 4:56 p.m. |

I don't have much in the way of pics for this leg. Queenstown is a popular tourist town and is rife with ways to break your wallet, everything from skydiving to jetboating. True to my reckless nature, I rented a car and drove to Otago to go winetasting. They have some nice pinots there.
Standouts:
Carrick - their whole lineup is very good
Peregrine - best pinot of the day
Chard Farm - the Sugarloaf Pinot was extremely good
Dissappointments:
Mt Difficulty - nice grounds, weak wines
Amisfield - how snobby can you get?

Driving north through Wanaka, I discovered where I should have stayed. Wanaka is the better option vs Queenstown. Next time.

Next stop was Fox glacier. It rained, oh how it rained. I was soaked right through to my shorts, and my shoes went squish on every step. Plus, it was brutally cold. It was a character-building walk.

On my next leg up the west coast, we stopped at Punakaiki to see the spectacular rock formations. I had only 20 minutes here, and no time on the west coast to stay the night, which was a shame, it is gorgeous.

# posted by Vijay : 4:49 p.m. |