The Silver In These Near Hills.
After our success on the Kepler Track, Meredith and I wanted to keep the good backpacking mojo flowing-and put our newly purchased hut passes to good use- but we weren't quite ready to line up another big trip. Thankfully, in New Zealand, a good hike is never far away. A coworker of mine recommended we check out the Silver Peaks wilderness, which for a reserve that's just 15 minutes north of Dunedin is startlingly rugged, uncrowded, and secluded. It seemed like just the place to do a quick overnight trip.
The seclusion and lack of traffic made themselves known early on the trip as we had more trouble finding a place right in our own backyard than we've had to find anything else thus far. So much so that some bad directions from Google Maps and a few questionable decisions later we found ourselves stuck in the mud in the middle of a sheep paddock and waving down some friendly farmers for a tow out. Thus we learned a valuable New Zealand lesson, not everything on the map is there on the ground.
Once we got pulled out and got some proper directions we shot right up to the start of the trail. There's not enough traffic in the area for a real trailhead so we just left the car off the side of a logging road and put the packs on. From there we embarked on a true Kiwi hiking experience.
The Silver Peaks are not a high mountain range, but they are steep, rugged and covered in thick bush and slippery mud. For all that, they offer incredible vistas out to the ocean both east and south of Dunedin (with some handy mountains blocking the view to town to help you feel extra remote). Pair that with the fact that we were the only people on the trail, and this was shaping up to be quite the adventure.
Our plan was a simple out and back to the aptly named Jubilee Hut, under 10 km each way, just enough to have a little fun. Sounds easy enough right? The trail began by winding along through thick, overhanging bushes as we climbed higher into the mountains before we passed up onto the more exposed (more silver you could say) peaks. It seemed to be a cakewalk of a day until we came across the final ridge and upon the ominously named "Devil's staircase".
I've wondered quite a bit in recent days how many Devil's Staircases there are in the world, and which one is the most difficult to contend with. Well, this one certainly makes a strong case for itself. After a day of winding along gently sloping ridges and over low peaks the trail plunged seemingly straight down a steep valley wall, all the while Jubilee Hut shone proudly hanging up on the far side. The angle of the trail must deter most hikers because not only did things get steep, they also got pretty undeveloped with a fair amount of bushwhacking to be done. Nonetheless, with some careful negotiation and sore feet, we arrived at Jubilee (both physically and metaphorically).
One of the reasons we were interested in an obscure out and back trip like this was to see if we liked backpacking more than car camping, given the right conditions. Jubilee may well have been the ideal conditions. It's a small hut (10 bunks all in one room with the kitchen and lounge) but quite new, with good facilities and killer views up several valleys. That we were the only people in the joint was just the cherry on top.
The next morning we awoke to a significant change in the weather; low clouds had moved in overnight and began a slow drizzle in the early hours. We didn't mind much though as we had no firm agenda and the low clouds made for some very cool views up the valleys. It was awesome to feel a world away in a place that's so close to home.
Once the rains passed we hit the trail, appreciating cool temps and misty views along the way. About halfway up the Devil's Staircase we hit cloud level and started one of the most otherworldly stretches of hiking I've ever experienced. You see, Silver Peaks is known for its rugged vistas but also for its wind-sculpted rock outcroppings (the locals call them obelisks, even though they're all naturally carved). So, as we hiked along one strange and foreboding rock formation after the next loomed out of the mist as we trekked our way through the still silence of the clouds. It's the sort of outdoor experience you can't really plan or pay for, and after all that we still made it home in time for lunch.
Not bad for a week of sticking around the new hometown.
Feels Like Home.
While we are loving our new city we do know that we won't want to spend the whole year down here in Dunedin. So we're taking a proactive approach and doing a little city shopping here on the South Island to see what other towns have to offer. A natural place to start, if only to check it off the list, was the adrenaline (and tourist) capital of New Zealand, Queenstown.
As is becoming the norm on our longer trips we took off Sunday morning and headed off inland. In a straight shot, Queenstown is only about 3 hours away (it is in the same Otago region after all) but we really weren't in any rush and central Otago is actually Rohan, so we decided to take a longer route. We turned off the beaten path out into farms and rolling hills, quintessential tussock, and stony outcroppings soon surrounded us. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure to get to the actual LOTR shooting locations, as while all the landscape around us looked like Rohan the film crew needed big panoramas without any roads off in the distance. A few closed roads and an encounter with Meredith's new bearded farmhand crush later we reached the lake where several scenes were filmed (you'll recognize it in the pictures). It was pretty interesting to see shanties built around a lake in such a remote area without much to offer, but there they were, living the New Zealand countryside dream.
That evening we headed off to the quiet town (if you can even call it a town) of St. Bathans, which readily supplied a nice camping spot and a photogenic lake (Blue Lake for the curious) for a quick morning stroll. From there we hopped on the highway to complete our journey checking out the mountain towns of Alexandra and Cromwell on the way. From Cromwell (which we loved for its small-town vibe and killer lakeside locale) things take a turn for the scenic as the road heads up the Kawarau Valley, the mountains rise up, vineyards cover every inch of arable land, as the river carves an ever-deepening gorge below. We had hopes of finding the shooting location for the Pillars Of The Argonath scene, but had to settle for watching some bungee jumpers just down river from the spot as the depth of the gorge makes it pretty inaccessible. The bungee jumping operation, however, was just a little taste of what was waiting in Queenstown, it was thrill-focused and very well run, but completely tourist centered and expensive as hell. At $260 a jump we decided to keep our wallets in check for now.
Once past the gorge, it was just a quick jaunt into the heart of Queenstown, a bustling outdoor mecca that represents the core of the South Island to many tourists. It's nestled up in the mountains right along the shore of the stunning Lake Wakatipu with views up to drastic, bare peaks in every direction. It's a busy resort town with more luxury packed in than we've seen anywhere else in the country. Take Frisco make it a bit bigger, right on the lake, move the mountains a little closer in, add a dash of Aspen flash thrown in for good measure, and you've got Queenstown. Basically, it felt like home.
We quickly learned that there is no real offseason in Queenstown its low elevation means that town dries out and gets relatively warm well before the ski season wraps up. We arrived mid-week, early spring and town was absolutely hopping. What can you expect for a place where you can ski, mountain bike and swim in the lake all in one day? We battled the traffic and grabbed some lunch downtown, where we learned that the bar scene has most ski towns beat by a long shot. After a quick stroll around the Queen's Gardens overlooking the lake, it was time to jet out and find our camping spot just outside of town.
Since Queenstown, naturally, is insanely expensive to stay in we were psyched to make the nearby, and incredibly scenic, Moke Lake our home for the next couple nights. Just 20 minutes away from all the bustle and congestion of town the campsite was welcome refuge sitting on a small lake ringed by mountains. It was so pleasant that we actually stayed two nights there, that's a first!
From Moke we packed up and headed out the next morning towards the small town of Glenorchy for another of New Zealand's most iconic drive. From Queenstown the highway dips, swerves, and teeters on the edge of the lake as the mountains rise up and grow more drastic all the way. It's dubbed the "road to paradise" for a reason (pay no attention to the fact that there's a little township called Paradise along the way). It was a stunning drive but paled in comparison to what we had on deck next, a powerhouse day hike on the Routeburn Track.
Routeburn is another of New Zealand's great walks and like Kepler is known for its high mountain scenery. The whole area is ripe for extended backpacking trips with countless fiords and hanging valleys in every direction, even if the Routeburn itself does get a bit overrun. With no packs to hold us back, we took off like lightning and made short work of the distance to the first hut. It's amazing how fast you can hike with just a daypack. The trail switched back and forth through unspoiled beech forest offering only brief glimpses up to the towering peaks all around. That was until we hit the first hut where the forest gave way and offered jaw-dropping views up three different glacier-carved valleys.
Since we'd made such mince-meat of a whole day's worth of backpacking trail we decided to push on and tackle the climb to Routeburn Falls Hut. We left the open valley floor and wound our way up to perhaps the most audacious hut in New Zealand. It's a Great Walks hut so of course, it's large and well equipped, but the audacity of the hut lies in where it sits. Perched on the edge of a cliff with its namesake Routeburn Falls rushing right by and plunging into the valley below the hut offers spectacular views down the valley. Once more we were treated to the benefit of springtime runoff as every cliff face seemed to have a waterfall streaming off it. Overall, not a bad spot for lunch.
Also at Routeburn Falls, we had our first peek at the infamous lodges for the guided "Ultimate Hikes" that have brought a whole new dimension to the Milford and Routeburn Tracks in recent years. Basically, they took these iconic hikes and pimped them out with upscale lodges and made it so that (for a couple extra grand) you can do a multi-day trek with just a daypack. The lodge at the falls did not disappoint. It was a sprawling complex located right next door to the DOC hut, and from what we could see looked pretty swanky inside. That said, we left feeling like not having to cook, clean, or haul packs would take a bit of the adventure out of the trip and would result in a lot of downtime in the lodge each day. I'm sure I'd be singing a very different tune if I could actually afford one of those trips though.
The next morning we began a busy day as Queenstowners with a steep, yet rewarding, hike up Queenstown Hill to overlook the town and surrounding mountains. We then tried on some of the local "Mexican" fare only to continue to be disappointed once again in our hunt for good Mexican (I don't blame the chefs, legit Mexican ingredients are next to impossible to come by down here), took a stroll around historic, nearby Arrowtown, and took a dip in the cleansing waters of Lake Wakatipu. It's funny how we're staring to feel like 72 degrees is super hot and calls for a dip in a high mountain lake.
Since we were city shopping we decided to pony up and stay one night in town to get a little bit better feel for the nightlife in Queenstown. It felt a whole lot like Vail, with touristy places clearing out early and the local holdouts filling right up even on a Wednesday night. That said, we had some killer cocktails and saw how a good life could be made in Queenstown. In the end though, we've got a couple more spots we need to check out before we decide where to hang our hats next.
Our Route:
Tips For Prospective NZ Travelers:
- In hindsight, this is quite obvious but in New Zealand there are many paper roads (read: not real roads) that show up on Google Maps if you ask it for specific, obscure directions that you need to watch out for. You may need to cross farm gates occasionally, but if it looks like you're going into a paddock, you probably are. Consider rethinking your route.
- AA membership does not cover getting your car stuck, just be aware if you're thinking that's a plus of membership. It's not.
- Related to the above, many roads in New Zealand are seasonal and may be closed due to winter weather or to let ewes lamb. Just be ready to revise your route when you run into inconvenient closures, also I've been surprised at out-there, backcountry roads I've been able to find closure information on just by googling.
- Moke Lake is the silver bullet spot you're looking for to camp close to Queenstown. It may be $13pp but that beats any price in town by a long shot, plus it's beautiful...all just 20 minutes away.
- Not sure why you'd choose the Routeburn Flats Hut over the Falls Hut, but the Falls Hut is far superior and seriously audacious in its construction.
- There's not really a meaningful off-season for Queenstown (yes, Christmas will be the busiest), if you go it will be hopping, just be prepared.