Te Anau Wednesday 30th December

I did my usual on Tuesday, getting up early in Queenstown and driving to Te Anau to catch theNature Bus/Boat trip to Milford Sound which left at 10:30. I must say I enjoyed it a lot-both the drive along Milford Road (Quite an engineering feat given how avalanche prone the road was and is, and the hardness of the granite. There is one long tunnel which is single lane only and is really crude with a rough surface and must surely have been built without the huge boring machines they have today.) - and the threemasted schooner trip on the Sound itself. The weather was pretty bad-cold and windy with low cloud and squally showers, but that added to the atmosphere of the Sound (part of the region called Fiordland). Good packed lunch on board too. Saw seals, and dolphins which are a particular pleasure to watch.

This is an incredibly wet part of the country (and world) with rainfall averaging 9m per year; the maximum recorded is 14.6m!

The driver of the coach was interesting with her commentary, particularly concerning animals and plants in New Zealand. The country only has one indigenous mammal - a small bat (the reason lies in the fact that NZ was the first country to break away from the then southern continent and hence native species hadn't developed.) Most of what has been imported is therefore causing problems:
-Stoats brought in to kill imported rabbits are now decimating some bird populations; you see signs along the marked trails showing where traps are set;
-Conifers grow so fast in NZ that they are adversely affecting many plant species;
- 'Scottish broom' as they call it, brought in for hedgerows, is a big pest; as are lupins which are everywhere (they were introduced to bring some colour to Southland;
-Possums came from Oz and have expanded hugely in numbers; actually you see many dead in the middle of the road (I didn't know what they were at first).

Good trip. I was exhausted by the time I got back and had something to eat. But the Te Anau YHA is a joy-small and intimate and...I had a twin bedded room with en suite facilities!!

This morning I left at 8am. I had no food but a bacon and egg sandwich and coffeee at a little quirky shop 5mins from the YHA was just the job. Te Anau is another tiny little place, growing up as a base for the Milford Track and other tramps. It was cold and showery last night in Te Anau and this continued all the way to Dunedin where the temperature at 5pm was 6C only.

Misc blogettes about the journey to Dunedin:
1. Stopped about halfway in a slightly bigger town called Gore for coffee. Outside of the cities, it is the only place apart from Rotorua with parking meters (incidentally to this point I had only encountered about a handful of traffic lights outside the cities too, mainly on one-way bridges).
2. Saw a shop in Gore named : La Hood's-The Chemists'. Some people I know will appreciate this!
3. Coming out of Gore there was a sign: 'Gore-Clinton 44km Presidential Highway'; and entering Clinton was the sign "Clinton - 'Our Three Horse Town'!" Nice sense of humour in these parts!

Staying in a hotel in Dunedin called the Leviathan. Fits exactly the Rough Guide's description: 'The most atmospheric hotel in Dunedin and the best value...built in 1884.' Interpretation: shabby and old-fashioned, but everything works and it has atmosphere for sure!

This afternoon I went on a bus tour of the city. Dunedin has some grand buildings built on models from Scotland mainly (and elsewhere in the UK too. And it's built on hills so the streets rise sharply from the sea, but it seems a bit of a hotch potch to me. It doesn't have the modern buildings of Auckland or Wellington. There is a Scottish feel for sure, and not only in the place names. Looking forward to seeing the penguins & albatrosses in their natural habitats.

Queenstown Monday 28th December

I've had 3 full days now and I'm ready to move on, although there is plenty to do here for sure.

On Boxing Day I climbed Ben Lomond which rises directly behind Queenstown.It's a big hill - 1783 m - with 1400m climb. However I went up the Gondola which must have cut out 4-500m. The weather was good to start but deteriorated with rain before I reached the summit. I have a photo from the saddle but the visibility was very poor thereafter, although it wasn't windy and it was quite mild. In total it took me 4hours 5mins (2hrs 5mins up). It's quite an attractive hill with none of the long slog up as with Ben Lomond in Scotland. The rain got heavier coming down and persisted all day, making Queenstown rather forlorn looking with young people huddled in bars.

I had a second great Day on Sunday 27th when I took my car to the Routeburn Shelter via Glenorchy and walked up to two huts (Routeburn Flats and Routeburn Falls) on the Routeburn Track (one of the NZ Great Walks and perhaps the best). It was scheduled as a 5-7 hour Day walk - I took 5hrs 5mins (2hrs 10mins up). The weather started out with a lot of low cloud and a few spots of rain, but well before the first hut the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful warm, sunny day. The track follows the Route Burn through high gorges and then the flats at the first hut, before climbing more steeply with waterfalls and spectacular views approaching hut 2. There were 5 wibbly wobbly bridges which are great fun.The track was very good especially at the start but there were a lot of tree routes and boulders further up. I had not expected a hut as well equipped as that at Routeburn Falls: it has 48 bunks and 6 double gas burners. Luxury indeed. There were quite a few people on the track going in one direction or another and both trampers doing the entire 2-3 day or day walkers. They are clearly differentiated by the size of rucksacks! The starting height for the tramp is 458 m rising to 1000m at hut 2, but that is misleading as there is quite a bit of up and down.

The reurn by car along Lake Wakatipu was absurdly beautiful: the temperature was 25C with blue skies and cotton wool clouds; the backdrop was the high, snow covered peaks of Mt Aspiring National Park; while the lake was a striking emerald blue. With the car windows open, the smell of fennel was wafting through much of the way back.

Finally today (Monday 28th December), I climbed the small Queenstown Hill (907m), next door to Ben Lomond. About 600m climbing from the town. And then relaxed this afternoon by taking a cycle ride along the Frankton Walkway which runs along the lakeside on the opposite side from Queenstown. There were many family groups enjoying the holidays by the lake as well as sailing dinghies, motor boats etc

So I've had a good time here, and now I'm looking forward to a different kind of holiday, focusing upon upon wildlife and nature!

Misc Blogettes

1. I read in the paper yesterday about complaints concerning ill-equipped and ill-informed tourists on the hills. Sounds familiar! A recent case was cited in the newspaper of two Germans who walked past a no entry sign on Fox Glacier and were killed by a falling ice block from the glacier. I can vouch for the former point: on Avalanche Peak I met an Italian with no water; he was suffering from dehydration (mild in fairness) and I gave him one of my water bottles. On Saturday on Ben Lomond when I was descending I met two young British women wearing shorts, vest tops and trainers as the weather was deteriorating. Mind I remember meeting a woman with high heels at the start of the Cobbler path asking the way and how long it would take!

2. To continue the weather theme but give it a nice parochial flavour, I read on the BBC Scotland website that 'Heather the Weather' is retiring from reading the news! What will I do!? Nick and Julie tease me about my obsession with the weather and particularly with Heather. There is a Glasgow University connection here as her husband in a Professor of Physics there. Oh well, change and decay and all that..

3. Disappointingly I haven't met many people to talk with at length. Maybe it shouldn't have been surprise as the population is YHAs is a peripatetic one. This morning I met an engineer - Trevor Cree - who works on agricultural development issues and we have a lot in common - but he's away now.

Tomorrow I'm up early in the morning to go to Te Anau and get a bus/boat trip to Milford Sound.

Queenstown YHA Boxing Day 26th December

A little while has passed since my last blog. On Xmas Eve I left Arthur's Pass (reluctantly, I really enjoyed my time there) and headed for Franz Josef Glacier, a wee village built around glacier trips basically. I had booked a glacier walk earlier and took the trip at 3pm that afternoon. Not cheap $105. I must say my expectations were limited from what I had heard, but it was really good. The trip lasted from 3-7:45pm, with just about 2 hours on the ice. There was the usual faffing around to sign in, get gear (proper 10 point crampons etc); then a 10 min bus ride was followed by a 3km walk across moraine to the base of the glacier. Then we climbed steps which had been cut in the ice and walked up through crevasses and up a couple of metal ladders to a flat area about half way up the glacier. I could have done with a bit more time there but overall I felt I had a good feel for climbing on glaciers. We had a bit of a clown from London as a guide (some of his attempts at bonhomie failed totally). The group comprised about 25 people of all ages, nationalities and fitness levels. But I was pretty pleased overall. Had a nice meal that evening in the village - to celebrate Xmas!

On Xmas Day I reckoned that there wouldn't be much open and had planned to drive from FJ Glacier to Queenstown, which I did. It was about 350km and I arrived at the Lakefront YHA at 2:45pm. Again a pleasant drive through varied landscapes: from the high peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park (but wide valleys compared with Arthur's Pass); to lovely lake scenery especially Lake Wanaka (where the hills were lower and more rounded, with many fewer trees, making it very reminiscent of Scotland, the first time I could say that); and finally to vineyards again and fruit farming on the run into Queenstown).

Queenstown is a attractive town by Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by mountains. From the small places I had been in the last few days, it was a bit of a shock with all the tourists: quiet groups of Asians contrasted with the exuberant Brits who had taken over some of the waterfront to party - in a friendly albeit noisy way - for Xmas. Some tourist shops and restaurants were open, and I ate Italian for Xmas!

Misc Blogettes

1. All the way down on Xmas Day I was thinking about doing my washing-pretty sad really! This leads to to thoughts about 'Happiness while travelling..':

First, is getting washing done. I hadn't done any since I arrived in New Zealand and I must have smelled (the fact that I couldn't smell anything untoward supports the point!) Anyway it made me happy! So instead of new clothes from Santa, I got clean clothes from the washing machine! The other time I was really happy getting washing done was in Agua Calientes in Peru with Juliette, but that is another story.

The second, which doesn't apply to New Zealand, is washing and shaving. I can think of numerous places where it was too cold to wash (baby wipes are a good substitute) or there were no washing facilities, and having access to a shower or even a river is a pleasure indeed.

2. A follow up on earlier observations about investment in tourism, the Department of Conservation offices ('DOC offices' as they are known) in every town are absolutely great. Good materials, many free, and excellent, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Also the iCentres are very useful and efficient in terms of booking forward.

Arthur's Pass village, 23rd December

This village lies in the heart of the southern Alps and has great walking (tramping as they call it here).

Yesterday I climbed Avalanche Peak, said to be the best one day tramp in the South Island. Nice walk in beautiful weather with snow capped mountains all around. Starting at 730m I followed Scott's Track to the summit at 1833m and back the same way. 5 hrs 25 mins for a walk scheduled as 6-8 hours (but that is for worst conditions). There was a little snow at the top and the short summit ridge had razor sharp rocks and was quite narrow, but there were no problems. It can be walked as a circular tramp but I was advised that there were avalanche risks on one track, so I went up and back the same way. In the event I didn't think there was enough snow for an avalanche.

Today I went part of the way on a 2-3 day tramp called the Cass Saddle-Lagoon Saddle Tramp. I started at the reverse end from Bewley Hut to Lagoon Shelter and back. It wasn't so high but there was a lot of up and down through forest and tufted grass/mud, so I was quite tired when I got back. Time was 5hrs 5mins-scheduled time 4-6hours. Didn't see a soul all day! Again the weather was great with lovely panoramic mountain views. There aren't so many day walks per se here so you have really to link in with the longer tramps.

Arthur's Pass village is quite cute in many ways. Arthur's Pass Store is the mecca of the village selling provisions, lots of pies and sausage rolls etc for walkers; and great coffee-I recommend their large flat white coffee, it's the best. The other main 'centre' across the road is a restaurant called the Wobbly Kea, where I've eaten every night. Food is hearty and substantial.

Misc Blogettes

1. The Kea is an endangered species of parrot, which unfortunately has been spoiled by people giving them food, so they hang around the street looking for scraps. Confirmed by a couple I met in the restaurant, they rip the rubber from car windscreens, and I saw one trying to get water from a drinking fountain. My description of them is skulking, sly (one sat behind me while I was sitting at the top of Avalanche Peak waiting to pounce on food) and very smart. Their colour isn't attractive-dark green going on soot. I must say the woman fron the DOC office wasn't happy when I told her that I didn't like them!

2. Outside the towns most bridges in New Zealand appear to be single track. But in an era of global warming, the country has either been very far thinking or just lucky. But when traffic is so light they are not an impediment to traffic flows!

2. By contrast with the limited investment in the transport infrastructure, investment in the tourism infrastructure is very impressive. Signposting at the trail heads and signage on the routes is absolutely terrific. For someone like myself with no sense of direction, this is perfect! I signed in to the Department of Conservation office as advised before going up Avalanche Peak.

South Island New Zealand 22nd December 2009

In my last post I was still in Wellington. On Monday 21st December I took the InterIslander Ferry to Picton. Enjoyed the YHA in Wellington-very up market and big and quiet too! I had a large room on the 6th floor, all carpeted!

Ferry was interesting. I'd never been on a large ferry like this: the check-in was just the same as at an airport and the bags went on a carousel. I somehow thought bags would be lying everywhere! Took three hours, departing 8:25 and arriving 11:35. Although there were lots of people and cars, the process of embarking and disembarking was very smooth and I had picked up my hire car by 12:15. Felt a bit travel sick as we went through the Cook Straits.

I was going to stay in Nelson, only an hour from Picton, but with a good weather forecast in the mountains I changed the booking to Arthur's Pass and drove the 444kms here yesterday afternoon. Although it took 6.5 hours, it was a pleasant run through very varied scenery. Leaving Picton I drove along the Wairau River valley, through large estates of vines, before entering the mountains around Nelson Lakes. I hit the West coast at Greymouth around 5ish, and the drove the final leg through a narrow valley into Arthur's Pass. The high point is 900m and the village is at about 730m. I have great accommodation in the YHA. It's my own little chalet place - there are lots of little wooden houses around the village, some built to house the tunnelers when they were building the railroad through the pass in the early 20th century; and others for former railway employees.

In my next post I will tell the world about the horrible kea (wretched parrots-I heard one just this minute!) and the quirky few shops in the village. Arthur's Pass village is a tiny place, mainly for walkers.

Bye for now.

Wellington, 20th December 2009

Yesterday I mentioned I was going to hike the Tongariro Crossing. It's considered as maybe the best walk in New Zealand, and it is quite spectacular being set among active volcanoes - the last eruption was in 1975 and there are sulphorous fumes being emitted from the beautiful emerald lakes as well as from the mountain sides. Re the statistics, the hike starts at 1150m and rises to 1886m at the Red Crater, but the climbing overall is around 850m I would say. The distance is just over 20km- a bit deceiving because the guides say 17k, but that is only within the boundaries of the Tongariro Park. I could have done without the these last three km although they were within forest which was attractive in itself.The scenery is extraordinaily varied with dried up lava flows, flat desert-like landscapes and of course the emerald coloured lakes high up. The weather was beautiful despite a forecast of high winds and rain pm. We were dropped by the mini bus at 7:45pm and picked up again at 3:15pm. I don't know how long I actually walked as I sat quite a bit (yes I do sometimes!) just admiring the scenery and got back about 2:25pm. Excellent day. Highly recommended. For the benefit of maniac walkers, there are side climbs possible - 3 hrs return to Mt Ngauruhoe ('Mount Doom')and 1.5 hrs return to Mt Tongariro.

Today I left the Taupo YHA at 8:00am for Wellington YHA, arriving at 2:00pm after dropping my car off at the ferry terminal.

Misc Blogettes cont.

1. Just remembered I was watching TV in Auckland the morning I left and I heard the worst version on 'Merry Xmas Everyone' ever. If you thought Slade was bad then the Early Birds are something else.

2. Getting away from Taupo, the area is real cattle country. I had a coffee in a township called Bulls; and passed a billboard with a picture of a calf advertising Peaches Teats.

3. Most of the countryside from Auckland to Wellington is green undulating countryside, albeit with more and different trees than we are used to. Closer to Wellington it was a great pleasure to drive along the coast at Pukerua Bay and have wild waves splashing onto the carriageway on the other side of the road. And Wellington itself, like Auckland, has a beautiful harbour location. Went to the top of Mt Victoria (shades of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong-the Victorians were boring in this respect!) for a walk and lovely views of the city. It was quite warm and humid and I felt good and relaxed.

19th December, Taupo, New Zealand

Misc blogettes

1. On the taxi from the airport when I arrived in Auckland, I asked the driver what the summer weather had been like so far. He replied, 'it's been pretty rainy, but it rains all the time here!' Does that sound familiar to my Scottish readers?!

2. While I was lying in the chair having my dental treatment, who should come on the radio but Susan Boyle, the singing sensation from Blackburn, Scotland. Singing her theme song, 'I dreamed a dream'. She was announced as 'Sue' here in NZ and with their pronunciation of 'o' as 'i (think about it) her name didn't sound so appealing somehow! Incidentally my filling cost NZ $310, pretty expensive.

3. Still on the Dentist theme, the female dentist was a Russian who studied at the Dental School in Dunedin. I wondered how this occurred given visa issues etc. Actually the hotel receptionist could have been Russian too. Need to investigate.

Now back to the traveblog.

I left Auckland on Thursday 17th Decemember, having hired a car for the remainder of my stay here. Given the hotel stay and taxi to get my bags to the Avis office, this is called 'designer backpacking'.

I had a pleasant run down to Taupo. New Zealand clearly isn't big on motorways and the motorway out of Auckland soon became a two lane road with an extra passing lane from time to time.Also it seemed that quite a few of the towns hadn't been by-passsed and with the speed limit set at 100kms per hour (and many stretches with 80/70/60/50km per hour), you really have to chill out when driving. Having said this the roads are well maintained and very quiet so it makes for pleasant travelling. Got into the YHA at Taupo late in the afternoon after spending time in Rororua. YHAs now have single rooms ('designer backpacking' again) but the noise level at night hasn't got any better. Sleep wasn't helped by the fact that I kept my mobile under my pillow-I had to get up very early-and texts sound pretty loud under one's pillow! (But very welcome folk-keep them coming).

I had booked the mini bus ('Hot Bus') to take me to the start of the Tongariro Crossing (more later). These buses pick up people from around the town, and I got it at 06:00; it only had 4 passengers. We arrivived at 07:45 in Tongariro National Park, after a lengthy journey around the huge Lake Taupo: this lake is a volcanic crater which is big enough (according to the driver) for Singapore to fit inside it.

More to follow...

Travels In New Zealand-Auckland

As I said I am hoping to keep a record of my trips from now beginning with New Zealand. I left home in Glasgow, Scotland at 10:00 on Monday 14th December 2009 and arrived in Auckland on Wednesday 16th December at 14:00, so 51 hours! The Emirates flights involved a short overnight in Dubai and a stopover of an hour or so in Melbourne. Total time change was +13 hours. Although I've been to the west coast of USA, Japan etc, this was still the longest trip I've experienced. And with a busy flight out of Dubai in Economy, it was pretty arduous. Might be an age factor! And I hardly slept.

Reaching Auckland to a sunny afternoon was indeed a pleasure, and I slept very well last night. Quick impressions - big city (1.4m people) with a small city atmosphere as the central area of the city is quite small; calm and unhurried (waiting patiently for the green man); very multicultural-lots of Polynesians and young Asians; reminded me in parts of Maine with wooden houses in some parts and the ocean; helpful people (I lost a filling just as I was leaving home and my first requirement was a dentist, which proved to be no problem for the receptionist in the hotel); and of course culturally very close to the UK and Scotland.

My schedule is obviously over-tight as had become obvious not long after I booked my flights, so I'm having to curtail my activities. Still I spent much of today touring the city, courtesy of the Explorer bus. Had my lunch at Mission Bay Beach, and much enjoyed the Auckland Museum and especially the Maori Galleries, and the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour and around the Ferry Buildings.

Tomorrow I move on to Rororua and Taupo. First time driving in New Zealand.

sy traveblog: Search results for Create post

Hello, I'm Stephen Young, an ageing traveller! Throughout my working life I have had jobs which one way or another have involved travelling. So it's in the blood from somewhere! Starting in Tanzania, I have been to around 40 countries (ranging from North Korea, Mongolia, China and Japan to Pakistan [Multan, Baluchistan etc] and India, numerous countries in Africa, plus Europe and the Americas), associated with work; and a good number of others (including Peru, Nepal and Morocco) related to my leisure interests of hill-walking, trekking and mountain biking. I have notes from some of these trips, which I really should but haven't organised. So this traveblog represents a belated attempt to keep a record of my forthcoming visit to New Zealand and Australia, mainly for family and friends but also anyone interested. I'm hoping this may stimulate me to write up my notes on earlier trips subsequently. There has been persistent freezing fog in the Glasgow area for the past few days and it's currently -2-3C at just before Noon, so it must be better there; although maybe not so much - I checked the weather in Dunedin and it's 10C and rainy (well like Scotland in summertime which is what I'm expecting).