I have always been keen to walk the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's Great Walks, and with COVID19 closing the borders to tourists there could be no better time to walk this popular track. Many New Zealanders choose to walk the Routeburn Track as 'freedom walkers' and places are booked in the Department of Conservation huts within hours of bookings opening each season. I am no longer able to carry a heavy backpack so I decided to book a guided walk through Ultimate Hikes. It is more … [Read more...]

17 December 2020 We start early today, meeting at the Ultimate Hikes Centre in Queenstown at 6.30 am. We are on the bus by 6.45am, heading down beside Lake Whakatipu to Te Anau and being entertained by driver Pete's stories. After a hearty morning tea of fresh scones and other goodies in Te Anau we have the final part of our drive on the scenic Milford Road to start the track at the Divide. It has been raining on and off throughout our drive but when we start our walk (around 11am) we … [Read more...]

18 December 2020 After making our lunches from an amazing selection of ingredients and enjoying a fairly leisurely breakfast, our second day starts with a group photo on the shores of Lake Mackenzie. There is a cold wind blowing and we are warned that it will get stronger and colder as we climb out of the forest and up onto the more exposed ridges. We climb up through the forest and it seems like no time before we get magnificent views back down into the valley and can see our lodge far in … [Read more...]

19 December 2020 It started raining overnight and is still raining when we get up in the morning. I thought it was raining much harder than it actually was because I was confused by the sound of running water - a branch of the falls that ran underneath my room! After breakfast we put on all our wet weather gear and head out for the final leg of our hike. Although we pull up the hoods of our rain jackets, it is not raining particularly heavily and as we are heading down through the beech … [Read more...]

21 November 2020 Over the next week I am exploring the south of the South Island and Stewart Island on a Queenstown Southern Loop tour with Intrepid Travel (who I have done most of my overseas travel with). Discover the silent Sounds, spectacular scenery and Stewart Island of the south. Explore the rugged reaches of the South Island on this six-day trip with Intrepid, beginning and ending in Queenstown. Make your way to the shores of the South Island’s biggest lake and sail the silent … [Read more...]

22 November 2020 Today is the first day of the tour and our group meeting isn’t until 10.00 and it is 3C outside and still windy so I opt for a leisurely breakfast. We meet our tour leader Si and the rest of the group in the lobby. It is nice to have fellow NZers in the group - Si says that in 13 years of leading trips, he had previously only had 3 NZers in his groups. All except 1 of us are from Auckland. There are 10 people on the tour (Jo, Adolf, Andrea, Terry, Bruce, Stuart, David, Anjuka … [Read more...]

24 November 2020 We leave Te Anau behind and head across the plains towards the east coast. We pass through numerous small farming communities and the occasional bigger farming towns. First stop for the day is Gore - the self-proclaimed “world capital of brown trout fishing” complete with a giant statue. Most of the countryside is covered with sheep, cows and paddocks growing stock feed. We meet quite a number of large agricultural vehicles on the roads. Lunch is in Balclutha on the … [Read more...]

25 November 2020 We get up at 6.00am today to a very chilly morning but we just load up the bus and head into Invercargill for breakfast. This should give us enough time to make it through to Bluff in time for our ferry to Stewart Island. On the first part of our journey the road is very windy but once we leave the Catlins we are back to the wide Southland plains and the ever present agriculture. As we get nearer to Invercargill we see other industry appear as well: felled timber forests … [Read more...]

26 November 2020 After kiwi spotting last night we are looking forward to a bit of a sleep in but with the sun shining in again and such a beautiful view outside, I decide to go down for breakfast fairly early. David had been on a scenic flight yesterday and several of us were keen to try to go up this morning if we can. David has been in contact with them but we wait and wait and then eventually we are told it won’t be possible. I’ve shared some of David’s photos below. Adolf and I … [Read more...]