Paradise...

Wow - another fantastic month has flown by. As soon as Kate left, Michael arrived in New Zealand to travel with me for a month. We spent our four weeks together traveling from South to North, doing lots and lots of hiking and spending some quality time sitting on beaches and reading! It was completely spectacular, as these photos hopefully will show!

When Michael arrived, we immediately drove to Mt. Aspiring National Park in the far south of the South Island. Of course, we got some lovely photos along the way!

Our first major destination was the Routeburn Trek, and 3-day hike between Mt. Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks. It was a spectacular hike, the first day climbing through beech forest, the second day traversing alpine peaks, and the third day dropping into a lovely rainforest.

(Queenstown-Glenorchy Road, just before start of Routeburn Trek)

(Hiking up the Routeburn)

(High Alpine Lakes, Routeburn Trek)

(Entering the Rainforest, Routeburn Trek)

We got off the Routeburn on Christmas Eve, and the next night, for Christmas, we joined an overnight cruise on the famous Milford Sound. It was our big splurge for the trip... and Michael got a 24-hour stomach bug! It was such unfortunate timing, though the cruise was still amazing and Michael was able to stay above deck for parts of it. Milford Sound is actually a fiord (carved by glaciers) and, thanks to the obscene amount of rainfall it receives each year and its cliff-like sides, it creates thousands of waterfalls, tumbling and streaming down all around. It was difficult to capture it in a photograph - the vastness and uniqueness of the experience was the most exciting and stunning part - but these should give some idea.

(Cruising the Milford Sound on Christmas)

(Our boat chilling in the shadows of the Fiord walls)

From Milford, we drove up the west coast of the South Island and began the 5 day Abel Tasman trek. I’d loved this hike when Kate and I did it in November, and was not disappointed the second time around! We hiked through lush forests from bay to bay, camping at splendid beaches every night.

(Moonrise)

Next, we crossed over to the North Island, and did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It’s billed as the best day hike in New Zealand, and I couldn’t agree more. It was a thrilling, awe-inspiring, completely other-worldly experience. We hiked among active volcanoes, steam vents, crater lakes, hot sulphuric pools. We also decided to do a side trip to climb Mount Ngauruhoe, made famous as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. It was SO amazing! It was a very challenging climb, pulling ourselves up by our hands and slipping on the steep, slopes of ash and volcanic rock. I must say, I’m much less impressed with the acting in Lord of the Rings as they struggle desperately up the slopes of the volcano - I felt in much the same position!

As we ascended the volcano, we began to climb above the clouds and see across to other peaks, lakes, and distant blankets of cloud. It was magical. When we finally reached the top, we explored around the rim of the crater, but couldn’t go into it because it’s an active volcano and emitting poisonous gas inside.

We had a quick lunch looking out across the vast landscape, and then began to descend. This was probably even trickier than the ascent, and was more a matter of controlled slipping and falling than hiking. Occasionally, one of us would slip into a rock and dislodge it, sending it hurtling and literally bouncing down the mountainside. We were *very* careful to watch and yell out to anyone below; someone above us was not so considerate and Michael almost got taken out by a huge rock flying straight toward his head on one of its bounces - luckily I heard the noise above and yelled at him just in time for him to duck. Yikes...

As incredible as it was, after the rock incident we were relieved to finally be off the volcano. Similarly awesome, but much safer, adventures soon awaited. Here are the views from further on down the trail:

(Mount Ngauruhoe, after climbing it)

(Three Volcanoes)

After our exhausting day on the volcano, we were ready for some luxury... or at least budget luxury. Luckily, I remembered the friendly skipper of the yacht Barbary that Kate and I had sailed on Lake Taupo when we first got to New Zealand. I sent him a text message, and we were soon given the keys (figuratively) to the yacht that once belonged to Errol Flynn. It actually wasn’t the best night’s sleep, but it sure was fun! The next morning, we off for a sail with David (the skipper) and some other friendly vacationers.

We then headed north, stopping for a quick tour of the Waitomo Caves. The end of the tour involved a silent and magical float along the underground river, with only the pale green constallations of millions of glowworms overhead.

We spent a very short night in Auckland before heading to the docks to catch the ferry to Great Barrier Island, which lies between the Auckland Bay and the Pacific. We spent almost a week camping out, hiking around, and mostly just sitting around on the beaches and swimming! It was a relaxing choice after three busy weeks of hiking and sightseeing. Here are some photos of our week in this lovely, rugged place:

(Best star picture EVER taken from a personal SLR)

(Camping under the stars)

We returned to Auckland with one day to spare before Michael’s flight, and couldn’t resist a short trip out to Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island that erupted from the harbor only 600 years ago! We spent our last evening at a lovely little Italian cafe/restaurant, sitting at an outdoor table in a cozy pedestrian alley in Auckland.