Unfortunately we did not have enough time to partake in the adventure activities that Queenstown had to offer. We had a very full itinerary that began with the Fiordlands located in the southwest of the South Island. Located inside of the Fiordlands National Park are some of the Top Ten areas to see when visiting New Zealand. Fist stop was the Kepler Track located just outside of the base town of Te Anu. We did a 5 hour hike on the Kepler Track where we were amazed by the green-ness of the area. The whole forest is blanketed with thick green mosses and trees with equally as green foliage on them. The hike was both challenging and rewarding, and at the end we saw a great big yellow moon rising over the snowy mountains before getting in our car to head back to our hostel in Te Anu.
From Te Anu we headed up to perhaps one of Southern New Zealands most popular areas, Milford Sound! We set out early to get there, as the ride was about 2 hours and wanted to avoid the cruises that fill with tour groups coming from Queenstown. The ride up was truly spectacular and probably one of the highlights of our trip to NZ so far! Since we were heading up before daylight we could see the sun rise over the snow capped mountains throughout the valleys surrounding us. Words & pictures so not do this justice, but trust us when we say we were in awe of the scenery.
We arrived just in time for the first cruise departure and boarded the boat. Although the weather wasn't the best (foggy & cloudy) at least the rain held off and the entire Milford sound area had a mystical feeling to it as the clouds hung to the surrounding the cliffs. On the boat we learned that the Milford Sound is not actually a sound, but a fiord, which is created by a melted glacier rather than a drowned river valley. Along with the abundant waterfalls we encountered, we were fortunate enough to see bottle nosed dolphins swimming along the sides of the boat and a couple seals crawling around the rocks. The cruise took us all the way out to the mouth of the sound and back again, leaving us with some of the best memories.
Wanaka. When we drove through this small town it felt like we were transported to a small town in Western Massachusetts. With brilliant yellow, red and orange leaves covering all the trees it was a great town to spend a couple of autumn days. Just like many of the other South Island towns, it was nestled right on the edge of a lake with panoramic views of the surrounding snow covered mountains. The information center was filled with brochures with walks all around the area. After asking the extremely helpful staff employee we headed up to the trail head of Diamond Lake for our afternoon hike. It ended up being a little more demanding than we were expecting, but again it was well worth the effort as we could see the entire little town below along with views of the towering Mount Aspiring off in the distance.
Now for the good stuff! A Franz Josef Glacier helicopter ride and the Fox Glacier Crampon Hike!!! One of the few places in the world where a glacier runs down into a rain forest, these two glaciers are awe-inspiring. First, we were lucky enough to find a coupon for a 20 minute helicopter ride over the Franz Joseph Glacier located on the West coast of the South Island, New Zealand. We boarded our 5 passenger helicopter around 3 o'clock with Rayann in the back and Shaun somehow scoring the Copilot seat complete with the microphone and headset.
Once we departed Glacier Country, we started to make our way up the west coast in our trusty Ford Mondeo. We decided to just "pick a place" to stay next, so we chose Greymouth. We hadn't read much on the area so we located the information center and got some information on local hikes throughout the coastal region. We checked into our hostel, Global Village (which has exceeded all other hostels we stayed at BY FAR), and headed off for the Point Elizabeth track. The track was unlike any other as we were walking along the ridge of the coastline through forest and farmland. At the end of the treck we were happily rewarded with a local brew pub, where we befriended some amazing locals and tasted the local beer brewed right in Greymouth! Unfortunately, we sort of lost track of time and left the pub as t he sun was setting, making the treck back in the dark quite difficult. We came across a goat in the dark that scared the life out of us. Luckily for us, we carry our headlights everywhere otherwise we would have had to hitch hike back!
Link to pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/rayann.torres/NewZealandSouthIsland#
Looks totally amazing guys!!!
ReplyDelete