On the heels of the majestic Routeburn Track, we spent a few days recharging in Queenstown.
As winter settled in to stay, we knew it was time to move on. So, we bought flights to Indonesia and began our goodbyes to New Zealand.
For our final days, we wanted to see some of the South Island beyond the Fiordlands. So we rented a car and took advantage of two last days of good weather before our departure. The first day was a quick drive up to Mount Cook National Park for a day hike up into the mountains there, and then back down to Wanaka, a lakeside town near Mount Aspiring National Park. The second day was a short road-trip up the west coast of New Zealand, and then back east across the mountains to Christchurch for our flight out the next morning.
May 27th: Mueller Hut Day Hike
As you drive up to Mount Cook from Wanaka, it has a crazy profile, rising straight out of the long flat valley. The first leg of our hike up to Mueller Hut climbed thousands of stairs up to the “Sealy Tarns”. The walk was fully exposed, immediately showcasing Mount Cook, it’s glaciers, and the golden valley running to the east.
At the tarns, the engineered staircase ended and the adventure began: first climbing up a rocky path, then a bit of scrambling, then steep and steeper snow to the ridge. The New Zealand Department of Conservation recommended crampons and ice-axes for the second leg of the Mueller Hut hike, from Sealy Tarns to the hut. We headed up in just our trail runners, but with hiking poles, and were among the few to make it to the hut so poorly trod. The climb was on the edge of what was possible for us given our minimal gear, but we never felt unsafe
At the ridge, the path unexpectedly turned away from Mount Cook to admire a glacier filled valley to the south. Avalanches tumbled from the valley wall down icy blue cross-cuts.
As we reached the second ridge, Mueller Hut came into view. It’s bright red, and sits at the very top of the hill we had climbed then circumnavigated. Mount Cook was now lit all up as the sun moved across the north(!) sky. We ate a decadent lunch of grilled chicken breast sandwiches. With no wind and a cloudless sky, it was warm enough to enjoy our meal from the hut’s deck. A few hard core mountaineers tramped in from some far pass and stood shirtless with blue-streaked faces.
We took a photo jumping – not an original idea, but so joyous.
To end the day, we stumbled across some surprisingly good bibimbap in Wanaka. Driving into town was a blast from the past. Though we had a laptop, iPad, and iPhone, we didn’t have wifi to pull up any of the backpacker addresses that had gotten good reviews or to map them. We found ourselves surprisingly at sea. Later we would remember the old trick of stopping at a gas station for a map and bit of direction – an old “skill” revived.
May 28th: A Whirlwind Farewell Tour
Having explored some of the most glorious bits of New Zealand in great detail and by foot, we wanted to get a taste of the rest of the island on our last day. The roadtrip squeezed 8+ hours of driving into a day with not quite enough sunlight.
Some highlights:
- The hardest part of driving on the left-hand side of the road is without question the fact that the windshield wipers are where your blinkers should be. Every time we wanted to turn, we switched on the windshield wipers.
- We had felt the emptiness of the country countless times – on learning that it has a population of just four million, on seeing so few cars on the road – but never did we feel it so acutely as our trip up the West Coast. Haast, Fox Glacier, Franz Joseph Glacier, Hokitika – all the west coast border towns – barely existed, with virtually nothing in between except the occasional helicopter off on a scenic flight.
- New Zealand’s west coast road is not an ocean-side drive, but we got a few pretty views of the rugged coast as it peaked out from the rainforest, with fantails dancing and diving at each lookout.
- Although nothing could compare to our front seat views of Mount Cook at Mueller Hut, we were charmed by the glacier-covered Southern Alps visible on the horizon – even as we were just a stones throw from the sea.
- Our lunch was beer-battered fish and chips – finally we broke down and tried New Zealand’s “national dish”! Not bad. Along with the “feijola” and golden kiwi, a few bright spots in a somewhat troubled cuisine.
- In a strange way, Hokitika may have been the highlight of the road trip, as it most embodied the spirit of random discovery we love about roadtripping. Time has not been kind to this goldrush town. You would never imagine 42 ships at its wharf, nor riches among its residents. But, despite Fodor’s characterization of Hokitika as the most charming town on the West Coast, we came with few expectations and were delighted by the driftwood sculptures, the jade artisanal work (prized by the Maori), the man who “walked” his huskies from behind the wheel of a white SUV, the bits of history straight out of the Luminaries, which Robynn had just finished. Also, a lot of possum-fur clothing for sale.
- As the sun set, trucks came out in droves on the road – some New Zealand regulation about allowable driving hours maybe? There was also a speed-demon postal service driver who played hopscotch with us for a while.
Photos
