Our walks in New zealand 2019

Just the 2 months away from the UK Winter (turned out it wasn't that harsh!) to a beautiful summer that seemed to start when we touched down in Perth.....yes I know its Australia.....but a 5 day stopover in the lovely city of Fremantle where our apparthotel over-looked the Murray River. Sunshine and warmth by the sea was a welcome change from sub-zero temperatures when we left London. Early start bathing, coffee & cakes, Saturday parkrun at nearby Cottesloe Beach.......the holiday had really begun as we moved on to NZ with a shorter flight after our Heathrow-Perth direct 16 + hour flight.

Back in NZ again (6th visit so far) where four main challenging walks were about to be undertaken although one will stand out as being close to the toughest we have acheived.....so far! This particular tramp we had planned and booked in advance as part of a self guided package that included a short but dramatic flight from Auckland to Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, a Rental car with an intermittent engine failure whilst going over rough ground and a beauitiful lodge with a harbour view at the end of a rough and winding typical Island road.....yes the engine did cut out on the way!

Mt Robert Nelson Lakes was our first tramp (NZ speak) after spending some time in the Picton area in the north of the South Island. We had already walked a bit more of the Queen Charlotte track from our previous visits and with sunshine and warmth it was stunning. Our rental car although small had plenty of oomf to pull us down to the Nelson lakes area where we stayed in a lodge at the Top House Inn famed for a historic pub, NZ's smallest bar and site of a gruesom spurned-love murder! The usual no-trafic made the 3 hour drive a pleasure. I should add at this stage that unless you venture into Auckland and perhaps to a lesser extent, other cities, there is between nothing and very little on the roads. With no plans I scoured my new map app that revealed several DOC (department of conservation) do-able walks near by. The first involved a water taxi from St Arnaud to the end of Lake Rotoriti where we took the shorter of the lake walk back to St Arnaud. 3 hours or so with stops for paddles and lunch.....very civilised. Back at the head of Lake Rotoriti we decided to join others for a swim in the clear and refreshing water where we came across the only annoying preditator we found in NZ....killer bees! Not really 'killers' but anoying to the point of not being able to sit and take in the view. Due to the extreme dry of the last few months the bees had multiplyed to the point that they became aggresive to anyone wearing or carrying blue! My blue togs, Lesley's blue daysack, Lesley's blue towel.....and so on. So my tip at Nelson Lakes is.........!! Next day we had plotted our first 'challenge' which was to do a loop up the Mt Robert track, lunch at the top in a hut and back down by the longer but more gentle route. Weather was looking ok but the summit was shrouded in cloud so be prepared and take wet-clothes that we had carried from the other side of the world. The first challenge was the 5km rough and zig-zagging track up to the carpark at the start. Our little Toyota IST (yes that was the model's name) had little ground clearance so I avoided the ruts where possible, the frequent corrigations that shook us to pieces and Lesley's doubting words regarding the prudence in doing this hill-climb. However, as we have experienced before, the car pulled nicely into a carpark that had the usual array of small rental cars plus the Juicy motor homes and past their sell-by-date, campervans! With my new digital app-map and location finder we promptly took the wrong end of the carpark until Lesley spotted a board that basically said; to the start. Always a good clue! The path rose at a steady rate through the woods for some distance, ziggying and zagging to ease the climb. Quite a few folks on the path ranging from overnighters coming down to a youthful Swiss lad that passed by and chatted carrying just a minimal baggage with him. We bumped into a guy from Northern Ireland that had come over the very top after staying the night in one of the huts. He said it was awful weather at the top, cold and no visibilty and was glad to be going down. We told him of our plans and he said it was fine but not to be tempted to take the 5 hour path over the col and onto the summit...........we didn't intend to try this! The trees gave way to open moors and then the rain started, thankfully just a drizzle but chilly enough to use our warm and waterproof coats. The way-markers on our summit were extremly useful giving alternative routes and distance in time back to our carpark. We brought our lunch and stopped in the hut for a break and refreshment. It was shared by a young couple with a baby in one of those really useful back-pack carry chairs and a chat soon revealed they were from Canada on their hols like us and obviously the addition of a child was not stopping them doing their hobby. On the way out I used one of the two high-level longdrops that were twinned together both with a spectacular view over Lake Rotoriti, sparkling now the mist had lifted. The way down was longer but due to the stretched distance between zig and zag, much more gentle than had we retraced our steps and opted for the shorter desent. So if you do get the oportunity to tackle this walk, best to do the anti-clockwise, like us and save your knees! Another tip, I used the lower carpark meaning the car was their on our exit from the bush, saving a few hundred meters walk up to the upper carpark where the walk starts. 

Back down the bumpy and dusty track to plop out intact on the main road and head for Lake Rotoriti with our togs in the car, we were ready for the swim. We used the convenient changing room facilities, dashed across the carpark in my blue togs and into the eel infested lake for a well earned dip (we didn't see the eels 'till we came back in the dusk to take some sunset photos when we definately saw huge meter long monsters that hide under the very same jetty we used to get into the water a couple of hours ago) Much refreshed it was back to the smallest bar before we went back down for a fine meal in the best restaurant in town ( the only one but it was great)

Mt Hobson Great Barrier Island NZ was our second tramp and involved a bit of organisation as it was on an island around 20 miles from mainland Auckland. We decided to fly out to save time, rent a car for the few days, find a nice lodge for accommodation and would need to organise a lift to the start from the end of the walk some 7 hours away! When I say seven hours......it wasn't just the distance but the climb to the top that slowed us 2 "oldies" and of course we stopped a lot for for views, food, chats and hotwater-spring bathing. Our single-engined plane took us and about 10 others to Barrier Island airstrip after a spectactular last minute extra circuit due to a Cessna arriving at the same time! We were wisked into our hire car and met up with our 'lift' to the end of the walk that we had organised for the first day. In hindsite, we left Auckland very early and should have done 'the walk' on the second day. However we followd our 'lift'  to the end where we left our hire car parked-up and were driven round to the start on the usual mix of narrow, hilly and gravel roads. The weather was again perfect.....for the beach, but somewhat warm for what was to come! Across the road and straight into the bush for a lovely flat section on well made DOC tracks until the first up was almost a scramble due to a fair bit of erosion. Just the occassional passer by, mainly coming towards us, meaning that they had probably already been to the top and were almost finished. Then after 2 hours came the flight of stairs, then more stairs and so on for what seemed an eternity! Passers by offered encouragement "nearly there" became the only conversation as they were hurriedly tripping down the stairs and we were pausing at what seemed, every few minutes. Fitbit said we covered 1km in almost one hour ,due to our speed of climb and the upward nature of the steps. The last 60mtr was the one-way stairs to the top of Mt Hobson that was a wooden platform with a stunning view across the island and ample space to take a late lunch. We shared the platform with three 'youngsters' and a couple about the same age as us. We chatted, as you do, about where you started and where you intend to finish.....a conversation we had with several couples en-route. All seemed suprised at the distance we still had to go! Most were doing a lot less and we wondered if the company that we used to organise our little trip, had made asumptions that we were super-fit despite giving our ages and knowing what time in mid-morning we were getting going! So, chat with the mixed nations 'youngsters' and they were finishing at the Whanga???? road as well. We met again at the ??? Hut, a lovely DOC accommodation with beds and facilities. Nice to have stopped here and carried on in the morning........Back on the track and similar flights of stairs took us straight down a ravine before leveling out. Legs ached equally from the ups and downs. We were covered up against the afternoon sun with thankfully, plenty of fluid and following the 'tourist' map we were given backing up every now and again, with my map-app that showed us exactly how far we still had to go!