New Zealand Grab Bag

[eggs]

Although we managed a week in Tas late January, most of our break was spent in New Zealand.
It was my first time overseas and we took 2 of our girls with us. They are not into walking, so it was generally a tourist run over parts of the North Is and South Is.
However, I thought I would put up a few walking related shots to whet some appetites.

First off were some short walks and exploration in the Waitakere Ranges and Piha Beach - due west from Auckland

View south from Te Ahua Point to Farley Point and the vast black sand beach beyond

Exploring Piha Beach looking to Taitomo Island

Then down to the Waitomo / Glow Worm caves area for a walk in Ruakuri Scenic Reserve

Waitomo Stream in the Ruakuri gorge flowing between tunnels and caves.

[eggs]

Then down to Tongariro National Park
- a lovely short loop walk to Taranaki Falls

Mt Ngauruhoe [Mt Doom] viewed over the old lava flows

Above the Falls looking to Ruapehu

Taranaki Falls

[eggs]

Then a big day climbing Mt Ruapehu itself - we came up over Glacier Knob and then out to the Dome at 2672m.
A big day for learnings - how slippery hardened morning ice can be - and how poor sandshoes are on it.
How bad loose volcanics are to climb - like climbing sand hills
How crumbly the rock faces can be - the girls got stuck afraid they would slide off the mountain - and I was the only one injured while trying to assist them up
How great it was to walk and slide down the softened afternoon ice - and better to use the proper routes

Ngauruhoe behind the Pinnacles

Coming over Glacier Knob

Then down to Wharariki Beach at the top of the South Island - the Archway Islands - Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit

Looking north to Farewell Spit past Pillar Point

[eggs]

We missed out doing a glacier walk due to very wet weather - but managed a helicopter ride over Fox & Franz Josef.
So then down to Wanaka for some walks.

Early morning view from the short walk up Mt Iron

Including a half day walk into Rob Roy Valley - which some rate as one of the top walks in NZ.

Distant view to Rob Roy Glacier and the 261m falls being wind blasted

Rob Roy Stream as it descends out of the valley

[eggs]

With the weather report looking good it was on to Mt Cook [Aoraki]
This was to be our only overnight hike - up to Muellers Hut. You can only book this on the day and we arrived to find 3 spare when we wanted 6. The compromise was that 2 of us went up while 4 stayed in luxury below.

Approaching Muellers Hut with Mt Sefton looming across the valley

Avalanche on Mt Sefton

Resting at Sealy Tarns on the way down - Mt Cook on the right

[eggs]

Not a walk - but we did an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound - fantastic

Morning view of Commander Peak in cloud - Doubtful Sound

A short walk to 275m Humbolt Falls - at the end of the Hollyford valley road

Humbolt Falls

And the short walk to the amazing Tunnel Beach near Dunedin

Descending towards the tunnel at Tunnel Beach

[eggs]

To finish this brief series off - a short walk on the Banks Peninsula above Akaroa.

Near Stony Bay Peak looking to the setting sun

PS - I should note we also did a half day walk along the Routeburn to Key Summit & Lake Howden

View from Key Summit towards Ailsa & Humboldt mountains

[Lizzy]

Beautiful shots!!!!!!
Makes me want to jump on a plane....
thanks
Lizzy

[whynotwalk]

Ahhhhhh - lovely memories stirred Brian!

Totally agree that Doubtful Sound overnight trip is brilliant. It prompted me to write this blog piece back in September 2010: http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/2010/09/shaky-isles-part-3-in-praise-of-useless.html

Thanks for posting those wonderful images,

cheers

Peter

[doogs]

wow.

[Robatman]

great shots- youve made me want to go!

[north-north-west]

For a non-walking trip, you managed to get a fair bit of walking done. Neat.
I really have to get back over there.

[Nick S]

Great photos brian, really enjoyed it. mt doom does look imposing even with a perfect blue sky..

[cams]

Amazing. I'm going to NZ in April for a wedding in Taupo. We should have 3 days spare afterwards. Any tips on the best day walks to do in this time? Google says Tongariro National Park is only an hours drive from Taupo.

[eggs]

My wife was very disappointed that we only zipped through Taupo on the way from Rotorua to National Park.
She thought it loooked like a nice place to kick back and relax for a few days.

It is central to both Tongariro and the Rotorua areas - so you could visit a few thermal areas as well as the volcanoes to the south.
Towards Rotorua, I would recommend a short walk at Rainbow Mountain - which can be worked into wandering around the nearby Wai-o-topu thermal area.
There is also a short dirt road in that area to Kerosene Creek if you want to soak in a hot river for 10 mins - the road starts at Green Lake.

Steam rising from far edge of Green Lake below Rainbow Mountain

There is a pamphlet on walks around Taupo - which would include various length walks to/from Huka Falls and various cliffs/ranges around Lake Taupo itself.
Brochure can be downloaded from : http://www.greatlaketaupo.com/new-zealand/walks/

Tongariro is not a long way away - but travel time from Taupo could go from 1 to 2 hrs depending on your destination.
A long drive would be a drive right around the park covering the Desert Road side as well as the Whakapapa side - with some short walks along the way.
Being April, it may have a lot more snow around than we had in Jan - and that may affect what you plan to do.

The park HQ is at Whakapapa and the walk to Taranaki Falls was from there [about 2 hours - but it is part of a complex of tracks with other options].
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is rated as the best one day walk in NZ - but really does take a full day [7-8 hours] and you need to arrange transport to both ends. A lot of companies can provide this.
For some detail see http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/central-north-island/ruapehu/tongariro-alpine-crossing/
And more general: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/national-parks/tongariro/activities/
If the snow cover allows - Mt Ruapehu would be really worth doing - though there is a shorter option called the "Skyline walk".
[Some businesses will guide you up providing gear for snow walking if it is required.]
In both cases you would be advised to use the chairlifts and arange your times to back by 4pm to get the last trip down for the day.
[We took the first lift at 9 am and came back on the last at 4 pm - making it a 7 hour walk - but we did take a difficult and longer route and were quite relaxed throughout the walk]
The cafe at the base of the chairlifts can give you details about weather and walk conditions as well as the Skyline option.
All of NZ topographic maps can be downloaded from http://www.linz.govt.nz/topography/topo-maps/map-chooser/index.aspx, but you can purchase the park map at Whakapapa visitor centre as well.

I am sure there are more options than this - but it is a start.

[Marwood]

From the central North Island there's lot's of options, so many that you'll wish you had more days . By April it's likely that Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro, and Taranaki will have had early season snowfalls, at least around their summits.
I suggest taking a look at the tracks listed at http://tramper.co.nz/ using Whakapapa Village or Rotorua as the centre of your search, or post a request for recommendations on their forum. tramper.co.nz is the Kiwi equivalent of this site.

[ollster]

I think that's the fifth time I've looked at this set of pics, and still haven't been able to pick my jaw off the floor since the first time.

[cams]

Very good information Eggs and Marwood. Thanks alot. I'm getting the feeling that, as you say, 3 days isn't going to be long enough. I'll check out all those links.