So Long South Island!
To mark the halfway point of our first year we packed our bags and moved north, not before saying so long to the South Island in style!
The Hump Ridge Hustle
It's pretty staggering that we've already surpassed the 6 month mark here way down south. It truly, as expected, has flown by. Now we knew at about this half way point of our visas we'd be heading north and saying so long to Dunedin, so naturally we wanted to send it off in style with some killer trips. Enter the Hump Ridge Track.
“We wanted a little taste of that Gucci tramping action.”
Hump Ridge is a 3 day backpacking track that clings to the very southern edge of Fiordland National Park. It's famous for the quality of the trails, the incredible views, the crushing elevation gain, the time spent in beech forest, and for the fact that despite its quality it's not a "great walk". The whole operation is run by a private trust which means crowd levels stay low and the lodges along the way are next level. After hearing about the blast Mere's mom had on her Ultimate Hike to Milford we wanted a little taste of that gucci tramping action. So, we booked up, packed our bags, and hit the trail.
Now here's the key with Hump Ridge, these private lodges ain't no stinking DOC huts. They're incredibly well serviced and for a couple extra bucks you can book a private room with linens and hot showers provided. That means, for three days our packs were basically just food (with which we went big and did up some really proper tramping meals) and a couple changes of clothes. Talk about living in the lap of luxury.
All that said, Hump Ridge is not for the faint of heart. Each day lays 20k of fresh trail before you, with a climb from the beach up to the bush line and back down thrown in for fun. Day one lured us into a real false sense of security as we meandered down kilometers of wide open beach with nothing but the great southern ocean for company. After about 10k of that lackadaisical nonsense the trail took a hard right turn off the beach and into the beech. Beech trees are likely NZ's second most famous plant (right behind the silver fern of course) they have a rough gray bark and small, round leaves that give any forest a distinct Middle-Earthy feel. They used to cover much of the South Island before people arrived, and now only hold their claim in the most remote regions.
“Without a doubt, we were about as remote as you can get in New Zealand...”
The rest of the day was spent clambering up the side of the epynonymous Hump Ridge. It was quite the scramble over slick roots and craggy outcrops, but rewarded the effort with stunning views overlooking miles of untouched beach stretching away to the horizon. Without a doubt we were about as remote as you can get in New Zealand, being high up on the ridge looking into the wild distance drove this pointedly home.
At the top, our home for the night, Okaka Lodge awaited. The sprawling complex is truly a testament to human ingenuity as it clings inside of a steep hanging valley poking just above bush line to afford maximal views. Here we thanked our stars that we had opted for the private room option as we were greeted with a made up king size bed, fresh towels for the showers, and hot water bottles to keep our tootsies warm in the cold mountain night. We chef'd up our high-brow camping fare and settled down to have a chat with our fellow hikers as the sun set and clouds swirled around the valley below.
“This is New Zealand wood at it’s finest, nothing but silver beech, silver fern, and bird song.”
Day two on Hump Ridge is the flagship stretch to be sure. Having knocked out nearly all of your vertical gain on day one there's nothing left to do but walk all the way back down the ridge to the sea. I'm told the views are stunning with desolate southern coast stretching away on either side. However due to some classic kiwi cloud cover we were treated to a more misty experience. That said, the hike was incredible. If there's one other famous aspect of the track it's definitely the boardwalks on day two. Kilometers on kilometers of wooden bridges make the trail most of the way down the ridge to help protect the fragile soils. It makes for incredibly cruise-y hiking and allows for maximal enjoyment of the untouched, stunted beech forest that covers the lower ridge. This is New Zealand wood at it's finest, nothing but silver beech, silver fern, and bird song. A world of misty grays and deep, ponderous greens.
We wrapped the day with a breezy walk along an old logging tram line to the cosy Port Craig Lodge where we were treated to a nearly identical experience as at Okaka. We could get dangerously used to camping like this. After a little dolphin chasing at the nearby bay, sore legs and tired bodies had us following the sun right to bed.
Hump Ridge ends with a breezy, dreamlike 20k jaunt along the southern coast through more unspoiled beech forest and ragged coast. We were left sore, gassed, and blissfully smiling at one of the finest hikes we may ever do. It's not a hike for the unfit, or the faint of heart, but if you're looking for a step back in time to see what New Zealand was like untouched by man you can't skip Hump Ridge.
South Island Send-Off
Following our unforgettable experience on Hump Ridge there wasn't much left to do in the far southern reaches other than pack our things and bid a fond, fond farewell to our lives in Dunedin. It may have only been six months but it we're certain the friends we made in our brief time there will last a lifetime. Many folks may poo-poo Dunedin, they may tell you to skip it for more popular tourist destinations, but I'm telling you now much of what makes New Zealand such an amazing country is writ small in this tiny city clinging to the edge of the world.
“So we shoved all of our worldly possessions into the ol’ RAV and hit the road.”
Nevertheless, the agenda drove us on. So we shoved all of our worldly possessions into the ol' RAV (which anymore is just about as much as she can physically fit) and hit the road. First stop, visiting some friends in Christchurch. As NZ's 3rd largest city Christchurch certainly is a sprawling affair, with arguably the least sensible urban design on the planet, but for all that it still is a lovely town. With the huge volcanic hills of the Banks Peninsula just south and the beginning of what I'm convinced is the world's longest black sand beach heading north, you'd be hard pressed to find another town with such easy access to such a diversity of terrain. We spent some time wandering the steep hills overlooking the ocean, and appreciating the fine things a larger town can provide (good gardens, museums, and restaurants among them). That said, it is still very much a town in recovery. Large earthquakes in 2011 left much of downtown in piles of rubble and rebuilding efforts are still heavily underway, but as our local friends point out that just means all the new buildings will be modern and nice, a bit of a rarity for NZ.
The next day we kept up the northern trek and stopped off in the beach town of Kaikoura, which is where I developed my "longest black sand beach" hypothesis. The volcanic sands start in Christchurch and head north for hundreds of miles past Kaikoura up to the tip of the island. Record or not, it was a great place for a little beach camping with the waves crashing just over the dunes lulling us to sleep.
“There’s something very Kiwi about a major highway that barely clutches to the mountainsides”
We needed the rest too, because the next day held some of the most overwhelmingly epic driving we've done to date. We followed Highway 1 north, where the road is cut into the mountain slopes of the Kaikoura Range just before they plunge into the Pacific. It's hours of remote roadway with the waves never more than a couple meters away on one side and stark cliffs rising out of sight on the other. Driving the mountain passes into the central South Island are certainly an eyeful in their own way, but there's something very Kiwi about a major highway that barely clutches to the mountainsides above the waves.
Once we made our way up north Mere and I had a chat and decided that we didn't need to run around like maniacs for the last couple days on the island seeing every site that we could think of that we missed. Certainly, we did not hit it all, but we took a really solid cross section of what New Zealand has to offer. With that in mind, we took some incredible days to explore the Marlborough Sounds in depth. We hit them on our way south but had them mostly spoiled by weather, so it was good this tropical corner of the country in summer proper. Thus our penultimate days were spent driving windy, windy roads, relaxing beside aquamarine waters, and enjoying that southern sunshine.
We did leave one special treat set aside for our last day though. The northern tip of the South Island is world-famous for its vineyards, specifically for producing the world's finest Sauvignon Blanc. In the small town of Renwick one can visit something like 30 of these vineyards within 15 kilometers or so. This quality and proximity has naturally led the development of one of the most "Griffin" tourist attractions in the country. Biking wine tours.
“...and food (oh the food!)”
We pitched tent outside a friendly hostel in town, rented Mere a bike and hit the wine trail. While this all sounds very similar to my annual biking brewery tours what went down for us was a far, far classier affair. Each vineyard's tasting room, or "Cellar Door" in kiwi terminology, tries to outdo the last with incredible architecture, views over the vines, curated wine tastings, and food (oh the food!). So we cycled our happy asses through all the vines, sampled some of the world's most enlightened vintages, snacked, laughed, and generally basked in the glow of how glorious our final days on this glorious island were.
Come morning, we cruised up to Picton and caught the ferry north to our new hometown, Wellington. Welly sits, very conveniently, at the southern tip of the North Island, it is New Zealand's second largest (and capital) city, it is a harbor town known for its hills, its food, its wind, and its San Francisco-y vibe. When we visited on our way south we quickly fell in love. It's a highly walk, bike, and bus-able town with a truly bustling downtown and tons to offer us in the coming months, including the prospect of more serious (and potentially longer term) work. For now though, we've settled into a (miraculously) rented out family home about 10 minutes ride from the city center with a couple of roommates and a dog named Humphrey. I'll be plying my trade as a mechanic at the uber-hip commuter, and coffee centric shop Bicycle Junction right downtown, as we rest up and prepare for our first North Island adventures.
Our Route:
Tips For Prospective NZ Travelers:
- If you're doing the Hump Ridge, just go ahead and pony up for a private room right at the outset and you don't even have to bother bringing any sleeping or cooking gear.
- Buy frozen steaks from the store the morning before your big hike, they'll thaw perfectly in your pack for cooking on night 1. We learned this watching smart Canadians implement this trick as we ate our pasta.
- Don't drive anywhere in Christchurch during rush hour...better yet, don't ever drive in Christchurch.
- If you have the chance to drive Highway 1 down the coast from Blenheim, do it. Not as mountainous as the pass routes, but it is staggeringly stark in its own way.
- Picton is totally more than just a place to get off the interisland ferry, it's a cool little town to hang around and grab a meal or two in.
- When doing the cycling wine tour in Marlborough, a couple tips:
- Start early. Most tasting rooms are open 10-4.
- Consider just doing every winery on the "close in loop" you can be pedaling for a long time to get anywhere else.
- Just get a cutesy Airbnb that's all adorably set amongst the vines and whatnot, other lodging options in Renwick are grim.
- Seriously consider renting one of the two-seater pedal carts.
- If you can make it, finish at Moa Brewing. They're open past 4, and you'll feel right at home in the welcoming arms of a sweet ass brewery after an exhausting day of wine snobbery. - If you've got the weather for it don't spend any time in the ship on the interisland ferry.
- DO. NOT. SKIP. THE. SOUTH. ISLAND.
Into Misted Mountains
After settling into our new home we struck out westward into Fiordland National Park to some of New Zealand's most staggering scenery.
Horses, seals, penguins, and fiords oh my!
After a week of settling into our new hometown, we were ready to hit the road once more, and it was Meredith's birthday to boot. As such I wanted to line up an unforgettable trip on the far side of the South Island to get involved with some of the most iconic landscapes in all of New Zealand, in the aptly named Fiordland National Park. The park itself is an absolute wonder, one of the largest national parks in the world (and by far the largest in New Zealand) it covers the entire Southwest corner of the country, all of which was sculpted by glaciers in the last ice age. Think Norwegian coastline, only less cold.
So we packed up our trusty RAV and struck west across the island. The heart of Fiordland is a small town called Te Anau, which is about 4 hours drive from Dunedin. Given the surprise nature of our agenda, we didn't head straight there and instead opted for a night of camping beside the Mavora Lakes about half an hour out of town. Boy, did that pay off. Mavora Lakes will likely be one of the best car camping spots we encounter, you can tell it's good when the camp is occupied by Kiwis rather than rented campervans. These two lakes are surrounded on almost every side by peaks rising above bush line. The lakes are also home to the most instantly recognizable LOTR filming location we've seen thus far, Nen Hithoel, the place where Frodo and Sam split off and row away at the end of the first movie. See pictures above for movie/real-life accuracy. So we found ourselves a camping spot on the shores of the crystalline lake and had a proper birthday dinner under the stars.
The next day we were packed up and out early for the first real surprise of the birthday trip, a morning horse trek outside of Te Anau overlooking the stunning mountains of Fiordland. We saddled up on a (lucky for us) private trek with the Kiwi equivalent of John Wayne, who just happened to realize that making money off of horse-crazy tourists is more profitable than raising sheep in his neck of the woods. The sheep he kept were mostly for decoration. The horses, thankfully for me, didn't need much input from their riders and took us on a lovely cruise over hills and around small ponds treating us to truly epic views at every turn. One particularly breathtaking view looked directly up Mount Luxmore, the centerpiece of the world-famous Kepler Track, our guide kindly pointed out that it's actually a good time of year to do the hike since the snow is melted but the masses haven't quite shown up for summer yet. So our morning horse trek planted the seed for our next adventure.
With a bit of soreness in the thighs, we dismounted and headed into Te Anau for lunch. The town sits beside Lake Te Anau (one of the country's largest) and is just about as picturesque as one could imagine. After a viewing of the jaw-dropping Fiordland On Film (basically 30 minutes of helicopter-shot footage of the inaccessible parts of the park) we hopped in the car and headed north along the lake on the hunt for a campsite.
Unbeknownst to Meredith our destination the next day was the iconic Milford Sound so we made camp at a large site up the highway to Milford. Past the northern tip of Lake Te Anau you enter the Eglinton Valley, a glacier-carved (of course) affair with soaring walls that mixed in beautifully with low hanging rain clouds. It was a great place to stay and an even better place to wake up in as we watched rainbows form all around as rays of sun slipped through the morning mists. But it was all just a taste of what was to come.
Milford Sound, if you don't already know, is one of New Zealand's largest tourist attractions. It is the only fiord accessible by road and for all the hustle-and-bustle going in and of there these days it will always be a truly iconic landmark. For us, the drive in was half the experience. Entering Milford will never be done justice in words, all I can do is liken it to driving into Zion National Park. It goes like this: the scenery is incredible, you drive through a scary old tunnel, and then you pop out into a canyon of such incredible scale it's all you can do to keep the car on the road and your jaw off the steering wheel.
A less enlightened version of me would have been very content with the stunning drive to and from Milford. But that version of me wouldn't have taken a sightseeing cruise on the sound itself. Having had the experience I can tell you a cruise is absolutely requisite if you're in this part of the world. This was the second part of Meredith's surprise birthday trip, and we were actually able to score a sweet last minute deal on a cruise that needed to fill seats. Suffice to say it may have been the best 80 dollars I have ever spent.
We wound up cruising with Mitre Peak who operate the smallest regular tour boats on the sound, there was plenty of space and a crew who was seemingly just there to gape up at the scenery alongside you. Out on the sound, all signs of humanity melt away. Mountains pitch down from snowcapped peaks high above bush line right down to the sea. Milford winds its way back and forth from the township out to sea, and each turn is stacked with views more impressive than the last. Wildlife? They have that too, in droves. Seal colonies to dolphins surfing off the bow of the boat to our first successful penguin spotting of our trip!
At the end of our cruise, we were awe-struck, giddy, and a little concerned we had gone too epic too early. Worried, that other scenery simply wouldn't hold up to the staggering scale of Milford. Well, the natural cure for that worry is to hatch an even better plan for the next week...
In before the rush.
Following our recent bout of inspiringly good weather in Fiordland we returned home to reprovision and gear up for an early-season attempt of the Kepler Track. This track is one of New Zealand's "Great Walks" (basically a series of epic multi-day, hut-based trips around the islands) and according to many Kiwis is actually the best. It certainly was the most intentionally built to be a flagship. To mark the centennial of the country's parks program they built this track as a 4-day adventure that does a handy loop right from the Te Anau Visitor's Center. It climbs up and around the mighty Mount Luxmore spending almost half of its length circling above treeline. So we thought it sounded like a perfect first backpacking experience for Meredith.
The trick was timing. Kepler is an extremely popular hike and the huts along the route book early and can be very expensive. However, because we were still in the off-season normal rules went out the window. In the winter the huts are cheap and first-come-first-served, but you take your own risks with weather and avalanche danger in the high country. Factors that at least for us, this late in the off-season proved to be a little overblown. Nonetheless, we called Anja the friendly German DOC worker at the Visitor's Center pretty much every day to get the latest weather reports. The weather held for us and operation Off-Season Kepler was a go.
We loaded our packs a bit more decadently than I'm accustomed to while backpacking for a couple reasons. 1, using the hut system is awesome so things like tents, sleeping pads, and water filters (a concept my desert-hiking self is still struggling to come to terms with) got to stay behind. And 2, Mere wanted to prove what a boss she is by taking a full-size, fully-loaded pack on her first expedition. So we had a little extra space for things like wine and fancy cheese, the camping high-life did not end when the hiking began.
Day one on the Kepler is actually when most of the climbing is done on the track. You take off from the dam on the southern tip of Lake Te Anau and begin your morning with a lazy walk on a glorified sidewalk of a path through the beech forests by the lake until you reach the Brod Bay campground for a bite of lunch. The truly lazy can actually skip this part by taking a water taxi across the lake, but where's the fun in that?
From Brod Bay, you head straight up the mountain. Winding your way through the dense beech forest can actually be a little disheartening because while you're constantly climbing it's tough to actually get a sense of how much elevation you've gained. Meredith quickly learned that the best way to power through was to hike to the beat of (variably) 'Staying Alive' and 'Another One Bites The Dust'. With good climbing techniques in hand and good weather on your side, we powered our way up the hill in surprisingly good time to the most stark and stunning treeline I've ever seen. In Fiordland at about 950 meters the trees, bushes, and ferns stop all at once giving ways to sweeping vistas across the lakes and peaks of the park. It really was a sight to behold. I am now thoroughly convinced that this crazy low treeline (950 meters is about 3,100 feet) is actually New Zealand tourism's greatest asset. These mountains wouldn't be quite so stunning if they were all covered in trees to their peaks.
From treeline, it was just a quick jaunt over open ridges to the Luxmore Hut. Arguably the New Zealand hut systems premier edifice. Holding about 50 bunks and a huge kitchen/common room it really felt more like the world's most scenic hostel with its views over the lake. A feeling aided by the fact that we were far from the only people getting in before the track went on-season. We shared the hut with a host hikers from all over, including our first hiking companions Tim and Daniel, a Kiwi and Brazilian duo from Auckland out doing a bit of exploring in their own backyard.
If day one gave Meredith a misconceived notion about pack weight, day two gave her bad intel on how early backpacking expeditions typically strike out in the morning. Due to some early swirling storms we slept in and had a lazy breakfast and hit the trail around 10:30, not my normal course of action as people who hike with me well know. Be that as it may, it was perfectly timed because we got nothing but blue skies and light breezes on New Zealand's bellwether day of hiking.
You see, day two on the Kepler is the crossing that wraps around the summit of Mount Luxmore and down into an adjacent hanging valley. It is the section where winter traveling and weather can be the most precarious, so we were mighty thankful that the skies were clear of clouds and the track was clear of snow. With the bulk of the climbing behind us, we were treated to a stunning day with views that our pictures will certainly fail to do justice to at every turn. We made such good time at the outset we even took a side trip to summit Mount Luxmore (at 1,472 meters high we were out there baggin' 14ers baby! Pay no attention the fact that, that translates to 4,830 feet). This side trip also brought on our closest encounter with the local Kea- smart as hell, mischevious high mountain parrots- who broke into my pack for some snacks but had the courtesy to stay around for a photo shoot afterward. The worst you'll ever hear locals say about the Kea is that they're 'cheeky-as', sure cheeky enough to steal your shoes and hold them ransom for nibbles of your scroggin.
After a stunner of a day wrapping around the mountain, we took our final break in the ridiculously positioned Hanging Valley Shelter. It clung to a knife ridge and looked squarely at the long track down to the next hut on the valley floor thousands of feet below. The descent was honestly more brutal than the climb the day before but fortunately, most of the crowd had turned back at Luxmore Hut so there was no rush to scurry down the mountain.
While Kepler may be designed as a four-day trek it is doable in three if you're willing to get creative. That was our plan, however, it did mean that we had about 22 kilometers to cover on day three, fortunately, the trail mellowed considerably that day as it simply wound down a valley to the nearby Lake Manapouri. We got up and at it early and made great time hitting the next hut on the track just a little after noon. When we got there we saw the value of staying a third night as the hut sits right by the lake with a beautiful beach available for all weary hikers. If we had been doing the trek in summer this would've been a great place to stop and have a beachy afternoon.
Nevertheless, we soldiered on the extra hour or so to the first exit point on the track alongside our hiking companions Tim and Daniel. We ended our first epic trek crossing the beautiful Rainbow Reach suspension bridge with weary feet, new friends, and big ol' grins on our faces. A quick hitchhike back to Te Anau put us back just in time for some celebratory pizza and beers to mark a hike well done.
Our Route:
Tips For Potential New Zealand Travelers:
- Straight up, you can't go to Milford Sound and not do a cruise. We got an easy deal and I think it was the best $80 (for two) that I've ever spent.
- If you're looking for a campsite on the way up to Milford Sound save yourself some driving around and go straight to the Cascade Creek site. It's the best, has great facilities and even better views.
- Thinking about doing a lot of backpacking using the wondrous New Zealand hut system? Buy a DOC Backcountry Hut Pass right away. It's 90 NZD for 6 months of unlimited use of most DOC huts (doesn't apply to most 'Great Walk' huts in season, but there's still a ton to be enjoyed), so you'll offset that quickly with huts averaging $15 a night.
- Take the advice you get from DOC workers with a grain of salt, they have an incentive to get you to do the Great Walks in season. They won't recommend many other awesome routes, and may overhype dangers of doing the walks off-season.
*Disclaimer: This is just in our experience. We did the Kepler Track about a week before the season and were heavily warned of "moderate" avalanche danger...there was literally no snow on or around the entire track. - Looking for post-hike pizza in Te Anau? Ristorante Pizzeria Paradiso is what you're looking for, don't bother with anything else.