Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Rotoroa to Lake Rotoiti

Again, we are not exactly following a true path along our through hike and we have found ourselves wondering south in the general direction of Te Araroa. 

We hitched two easy rides from Westport to Lake Rotoroa, then shared a water taxi across the lake with two fellow fly fisherman. As we arrived at the lakefront hut, we quickly realized that we were heading out on a weekend and the place was crawling with locals. Well, not exactly crawling, but we were the only international trampers among about a half dozen kiwi hunters and fishermen.

The next few days were spent between huts and rivers, fishing and playing cards. Robin and Warren, two kiwi fly fisherman that shared the D'Urville with me, were a pleasure to enjoy the area with. We will never forget their kindness and generosity for shuttling us across part of the lake it their little boat, sharing beer, port, and "nibbles," and late nights of giggles and eucher. Thanks guys!

We departed Lake Rotoroa and headed out towards St. Arnaud via speargrass hut and Angelus hut. The next few days were drastically varied, changing from dense beach to subalpine bogs, tussock, and alpine lakes and ridges. Some of the days were very challenging and exposed but the views were well worth the effort.

Lake Rotoroa from D'Urville hut. Several days of heavy rain and snow put on a dazzling show as the clouds parted.

Meadow flowers

In the grassy plains of the D'Urville. Our next hut lies some 8km up the valley behind us.

First D'Urville brown taken on a dry emerger. ~6lbs and spanning nearly to the first guide on my rod.

An Ansel Adams moment as light rains began to fall.

First fish spotted the next morning and I was selected to make the first go (no pressure). A few casts later and my kiwi friend Warren brought this hog to shore is his net.

This accidental penis tree had one big ball, we thought of you, Trevor.

As we gained altitude along the Speargrass Route, we suddenly emerged into this alpine bog filled with stunted beech and amazing views. A well built board walk carried us over the sensitive habitat for nearly a mile and included this nice bench about halfway. We enjoyed the views and so will Aliyah's dad and my aunt.

Another board walk carried us to Speargrass hut situated in a tussock meadow. We climbed up the valley behind the hut to reach Angelus Hut.

Resting after a short, steep, and frightening ascent. Not a bad view looking back towards Speargrass hut.

Off trail through tussock!

After climbing to the top of the ridge we felt on top of the world.

Sunrise near Angelus Hut looking into the Travers valley. We first met this swiss girl on the first day of the Queen Charlotte track and three weeks later we arrive at the same place at the same time.

Sunrise

Lake Angelus

Lake Angelus and the hut (photo above and below), a 36 bunker with cozy fire place, benched and covered deck and views from every window.

Climbing Robert's Ridge away from Lake Angelus

Peering over the ridge into the valley towards speargrass. The ridge visible in the photos of the climb from spear grass is the one we are on.

A very exposed traverse along the ridge, the clouds aiding the dramatic approach.

Conquered: fears and ridges!

Time to relax and enjoy the view. We also enjoyed a hefty portion of cheese cake gifted to us by a guided tour group.

Theres gold in them hills

We caught a shuttle to the start of the Heaphy with grey skies surrounding the vibrantly green hills. Our driver was chatty and amiable as most bus drivers have been in NZ and tried to give us as much historical information on the region as possible. He explained the hills surrounding Golden Bay had once been heavily mined for gold and that the sleepy one block town of Collingwood had been slated to become the nations capital. However, alluvial gold sources were discovered further south and the main efforts to crush the gold out of the hard rock were abandoned, along with the plans for the capital. Today, the main industry of the area is dairy and the low lands are covered with a patchwork of pastoral dairy farms. The Arorere River threads its way between the pastures and as we ambled up the partially paved road, the driver explained that though it is an extremely volitle river and prone to flash floods, it harbors some of the best fishing in the area. The conversation quickly digressed into a discussion about the eels and their appearence on River Mosters...

The road lead to a dead end and the trail head after about 30 km and several small river crossings. We dawned our packs and hit the trail with the lightest of rain cooling our initial ascent. The Heaphy Track, like most of the great walks, is well built with good drainage, wide, smooth trails, and a consistent grade making walking very easy, almost monotonous. We quickly gained the intersection of a small side trail the branches off down to the Arorere, a one hour detour. The trail marker indicated there was fishing access. After some brief deliberation, we decided to split up, Aliyah we press on to camp (not more than 2 hours furhter up trail) while I descended to fish. It was well worth the detour. The first hole I came upon, a massive emerald pool visible from the Heaphy track some 600 meters above, had several large browns cruising around. A few minutes later and I had already hooked into the first fish of the day. It instantly darted for the depths, taking me well into my backing. Not wanting to break off again, I slowly coaxed this fish back, easing it to shore for a quick pic. I was shaking with excitement as and ready my rod for another cast.

I worked the upstreams sections and found another large brown in some fast water. This fish was holding in one spot lazily picking up anything that looked tastey. I tried a few attractor dries with nymph droppers... no takes. I went down in scale trying the timeless Adams... not interested. On one cast, my line got pulled down stream by a swift current and my fly began to drag across the lie. I thought that would be the end of my efforts for this fish as this same scenario had played out so many times on the Pelorus. To my surprise, instead of darting to the nearest hiding place this fish picked up chase and followed the fly all the way across the river, though never quite taking it. It tried the same fly several times, this time making it dance a bit. The fish was enticed several times but never took. Eventually it became disinterested. Since the fish seemed aggressive enough, why not try the mouse? I sent the mouse out and wiggled it back across the river. It looked desperate and adorable, treading water and trying to escape the rivers pull. As the mouse swung across the current in front of the trout, a large wake appeared behind the mouse, following it closely to the edge of the river. Then the fish dissappeared and my heart started pumping again. Next time...

I caught one more large brown and started back up the trail. I found Aliyah curled up in an empty shelter, reading. The next day we crossed the downs, an incredible alpine "meadow." I'm not really sure what else to call downs. They aren't above tree line but are alpine plains donimated by tussock and tend to be a bit boggy. Small hills within the downs and tree-covered and look like islands in a sea of tussock. We stayed at a quaint and empty hut with an antique stone fireplace. Since we've been on the trail we have seen about 5 people and stay the night with zero. For a great walk, this place is deserted.

The nest day we awoke to grey skys, a steady but light rain, and driving wind. Portions of the trail were reduced to small rivers and dryness was a bad joke. Our conversations lead our minds to other things this day, warm places, comfort foods, etc. One of the main foods we craved were hot, fresh dougnuts and we shared childhood memories of such food. Upon reaching our hut we found place had been kept piping hot my an older couple from the Neatherlands who were taking a rest day. Like wet rats we huddled around the stove, stinky dripping clothes hung from every corners. Soon more wet rats poured in and hut started to feel full. The following morning we were greated by blue skies and a view that reached all the way to the beach and the Heaphy lagoon that awaited us 20 km away.

The Heaphy hut, a brand new hut opened just days before we arrived, felt more like a remote hotel than a "hut." The porch and veranda overlooked the lagoon and river mouth, granting beautiful views of palm-lined sun sets. Ah, paradise.

The last day was again sunny again. All that was left was a 16 km trail following the beaches. Pounding surf was our constant companion on this stint. After leaving the trail and booking a bed in the nearest town, we hit the pub. To our disbelief, it had a doughnut on the menu! Along with fish and chips, potato wedges, calamari, and other grease soaked food, the fryers also produced a hot, fresh doughnut rolled in suger and cinnamon with a little scoop of icecream. Life is too good sometimes.

Sunset on Rocks Hut (End of Pelorus Track)

Alpine crossing in the Richmond mineral belt (Pelorus End to Nelson)

The smaller of the two Arorere browns caught on the Heaphy Track

Heaphy Track views

The downs behind us

Downs hut

Morning weather through hut window

A newly built swing bridge

A massive tree dwarfing the Nikau palms

Heaphy hut view

Heaphy hut

We came from up there! There is a tiny dot on the farthest hill, that was our previous day's hut.

Aliyah was ecstatic when we got to the beach.

Powelliphanta snail found on the track. It retracted in fear.

The last 16 km of the Heaphy track.

Pelorus River Track

Despite the sandflies, we had a great time enjoying the clear, emerald green waters of the Pelorus and taking our time as many large trout drew my attention. Sadly, the elusive browns did not grow large being stupid and I couldn't get any to take a fly. Some wouldn't even let me get within 40 feet of them. I saw many huge long-finned eels, and after watching that River Monsters episode and definitely checked the pools before jumping in.

We have been following the Te Araroa for roughly 150 kilometers know and we finally met another tramper loosely following the path too. Like us, he wasn't too thrilled about some of the sections and has been improvising his way along, skipping the 90 mile beach and the southland farm sections. We have also seen several other TA hikers listed in the hut log books including one crazed Aussie that is attempting to run the whole think in 60 day (over 50km a day!).

The climb out of Pelorus was arduous; some 2000 foot climb over 5 km, a little more climbing through the alpine ridges, then 3000 feet of knee grinding decent to Nelson at sea level. We found a backpacker but check in wasn't until 3 pm, so we went round the corner to the pub for a pint and BLT's! The got a couple scoops of ice cream for the walk back to the hostel. A soak in the hot tub and our knees were totally forgotten.

Nelson is a nice little beachy town not unlike Santa Cruz. It is bike friendly with lots of mountain bike trails in the surrounding hills, nice little communities, good beers and wine, the coast. We rented bikes, eat fish and chips, did our errands, swam in the pool, and generally chilled out. We even went to see Skyfall our last night there at the local theatre, a civilized treat before hitting the trail again.

Now we are preparing for another great walk, the Heaphy. We'll be on until the 4th, then back to the TA.

additional photos

uploading photos has been frustrating and time consuming...here are two links to most of my photos from the first few weeks in New Zealand, more to follow.

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0BxdNdQ1F0SF2MzFqZU11NjJZZVU/edit

http://www.flickr.com/photos/90326874@N07/

Routeburn and Queen Charlotte Tracks

We completed over 100 km of track alread and we've done both the beginning and end of our trip (both sounds)! There is so much more to look foreward to and we've hardly begun. Currently we are taking a rest day in the town of Havelock, the greenlip mussel capital of the world, and consuming as much food as possible. Here are a few quick highlights from the tracks and as many photos as I can get to (I'm working on uploading all of them to google drive and will share the link as soon as they are up):

Aliyah on the one of the longer "swing bridges" on the Routeburn Track. The first one made her cry but now she thinks they are fun.

Lush and green. Most of the forest floor greenery is actually tiny ferns, not moss.

A sleeping baby seal near Kaikoura.

A fur seal nursery up a creek about 300 meters from the coast. These little seals play all day in this beautiful waterfall pool without a care in the world.

Mother fur seal sunbaths with a lesbian pair of paridise ducks.

Our official northern start at Ship Cove. Behind us stands the Captain Cook Monument signifying a location Captain cook sailed to several times, very historical. 70+ km of trails ahead of us, the first 20 will be without packs as the water taxis drop them at the first camp for you!

More lush greenery in virgin forests. Red and silver tree ferns are like giant umbrellas and towern beach trees cling to the steep slopes. Epiphytes and ferns cover everyting. 

Rollin in style.

Amazing views of the sounds along the Queen Charlotte Track.

The first two days included rain, it ended with this rainbow as viewed from an awesome shelter along a ridge where we camped for the night.

Moving On

Currently killing time at the Aukland domestic terminal, T-minus 10 hours 30 minutes till our flight to Queenstown departs. We just got out of the beautiful northland countryside, a destination we will definitely be returning to. We had the good fortune to have two close contacts in the northland area to house us, show us around, and acclimate us to the lifestyles and customs of New Zealand. And as luck would have it, they lived approximately 10 km from each other!

Our first stop was at Aliyah's cousins' near Parua Bay. They had a sweet house overlooking a small bay a short walk from a little beach. We spent the first few days getting aquainted with the nearest city, Whagerei, where we did our supply shopping, shipping, getting a fishing license, etc. We also got out in the cousin's boat for an evening session to no avail.

The coming weekend was packed with seasonal activities including a touch rugby match in the donated cow pasture across the road and show day at he local elementary which where Aliyah's 6 year old cousin attended. Show day is like a county fair crossed with a 4H event; go-kart rides, scissor lift/paper airplane toss combos, bounce houses, crappy carny games, cow patty bingo, sheep sheering, lambs galore, awkward tween tribal dancing, lamb burgers while lambs watch, etc.

Then later that night, Guy Fawkes Day, as known in the US as that holiday depicted in the movie where Natalie Portman shaves her head. Essentially everyone in the neighborhood gathers in a field where a huge pile of debris has been mounded. An effigy is place atop the pile, copious amounts of diesel are applied, and the whole mess burns through the night and into the next day while the towns folk rejoice (get drunk, BBQ, and light fireworks simultaneously).

Sunday was spent in quiet reflection. Aliyah's second cousin-inlaw (older man married to Aliyah's mom's cousin, you tell me what he's called) took us to mount Manaia, a sacred mountain overlooking the town and surrounding bays. It was gorgeous with scattered clouds, bluebird skies, and dense jungly vegetation. We get a crash course in New Zealand natural and cultural history, glimpsing just enough to know that much of the native bush and old growth forest decimated at one point and only now returning. We learned lots of new plant names and enjoyed beautiful but windy views at the peak.

The next morning we departed the cousin's pad and moved down the road to Pataua South, another small collection of rural homes overlooking a large estuary. Again we were delighted to have to company of friends very close to my Dad who I had not seen since I was three years old. We shared lots of great stories and slow walks around the area, visiting secluded beaches, sacred mountains, secret fishing holes, cormorant colonies, and a glass blowing studio. And our guest room had a sunrise view overlooking the entire estuary!

Sadly we left the Eden with a promise to return and an entire adventure still ahead of us. Next up, kayaking Milford Sound on my birthday!

Pictures to come, having too much fun to upload now.

Enjoying Northland and changing gears

We went out fishing today with Aliyah's cousin Andre. He got off work early and took us out in their sweet boat. The weather and ocean were great but the target fish, snapper and kingfish, weren't to be found. We had a great time zooming around in the turquoise waters and rugged coatline of the northland area and look forward to returning after our tramp. The fishing has been off for several weeks as the summer temperatures have not found their way to the area. Andre says ocras will be coming into the area soon too!

On a similar note, winter weather continues on the south island and the threat of avalanches through several of the passes we had planned have us switching gears. The previous post, sound to sound, will still hold true to its name, just a bit rearranged. We'll still be heading down to Milford sound and hiking the Routeburn track as we have too many reservations booked that cannot be refunded. The Routeburn has one pass that has variable avalanche threats the stationed hut rangers will walk trampers through the hazard zones. If overall conditions are still too dangerous, a helicopter is standing by to fly trampers over the pass!

From there we are much more subject to the weather and will lack the DOC's support found on the Routeburn, so we've booked a free rental car out of Queens town to drive up to Picton and start hiking the Te Araroa from Queen Charlotte Sound south. Hopefully the weather will clear in front of us as we head down. At least we aren't in a hurricane...