Hi everyone!
We just finished up a four-day excursion in Nelson Lakes National Park and it was a trip of extremes- it involved my favorite and least favorite days of hiking, as well as some extreme weather, and extremely crowded (and then uncrowded) huts.
The first day was probably my favourite day of hiking that we have done in New Zealand. The sky was pretty clear for 9 km of ridge walking, which was really cool. We passed along three different basins, all speckled with snow. The moutains were definitely the most epic-looking ones that we have come across in New Zealand. The hut we stayed at, Angelus Hut, was in an amazing locataion. It was in a basin right on a lake surrounded by high peaks.
On the second day, we had the worst weather we have had for hiking. The visibility was probably less than 5m at times and there was rain and strong winds. Luckily, we had planned to stay at Angelus hut for a second night and just do a side trip that day, so we cancelled the side trip and hung out in the hut all day. We we also in a very crowded hut that night - there were 26 beds and about 36 people because it was Easter weekend and there are two weeks of school holidays right now. I was ready to get the heck out of there the next morning.
On day three, we woke up to amazingly clear skies and hardly any wind. We did another ridge walk followed by a very very steep, muddy, and forested downhill that had me swearing by the end. At the end of the hike, we were greeted by the emptiest hut we have been to - 36 beds and only six people, so that was a real treat.
Day four was probably my least favorite day of hiking we have done on the trip. It was 7.5 hours of stepping over roots, around trees, and going up and down little valleys, through the forest the entire time. The end could not have come soon enough.
This was our last hiking trip on the south island and we are heading to the north island the day after tomorrow.
Cheers,
Erin
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When you coming hoooome!? waaaaaa!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I am living vicariously through your photo journaling. Nice.
Can't wait til you guys get back and we can have a beer party or some other themed party.
Beer party is a great theme for a party.
ReplyDeleteWe are coming home in less than a month! EEeek!
that's one thing i found a little hard to adjust to when leaving -- but good thing you're hitting up the north island first is that when you leave the south island you feel like there are people EVERYWHERE.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard enough time with the cities on the south island. After being in the bush for four days at a time, I have issues with walking down the sidewalk and not running into people.
ReplyDeleteWellington should be interesting...
Try a little less beer.
ReplyDeleteWhen you guys have a beer party in Edmonton I'll be living vicariously though the imminent Facebook photo album. Get Fish beer! Haha, gross.
ReplyDeleteOMG who brought the fish beer???
ReplyDeleteFish beer! Oh man.
ReplyDeleteJulie, if I send you a facebook invite now, perhaps you can take your rolls of quarters to the airport and buy a ticket!
We can just give the Fish Beer to the people we don't like. And I know at least one person who'll drink anything.
ReplyDeleteerin - i forgot to tell you
ReplyDeletewellington is intense. there is this street . . .
"The night life in Wellington is intense and highly concentrated on a street called "courtenay place". It is like a Whyte ave x3 except with less violence, more police and pedestrian-only streets. "
brace yourself my friend!