Welcome to part five in New Zealand: A Hiker’s Paradise, where I write all about hiking in New Zealand. This week, I want to talk about hiking in New Zealand’s South Island southern half, particularly hikes in Otago (near Dunedin), the Catlins, Southland, Fiordland, and Stewart Island. In part one, I talked about the differences…
Category: hiking
big road trip: week five
A month ago, I packed up my life in Dunedin and headed out on one last big road trip across New Zealand. Here is week five! ** dates of travel: 4-12 Dec 2016 As I write this (Thursday), the last few days have been horribly rainy. I’m on the West Coast – which is notorious…
big road trip: week four
A month ago, I packed up my life in Dunedin and headed out on one last big road trip across New Zealand. Here is week three! ** dates of travel: 29 Nov – 3 Dec Back in Queenstown, I set about getting ready to get back on the road. This involved laundry, some last-minute wifi…
new zealand: a hiker’s paradise, part four
This week in New Zealand: A Hiker’s Paradise, I begin with South Island hikes around Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula, inland toward Wanaka and Queenstown, and across to the West Coast. As stated in the last post, the climate changes quite a bit as you head further south. The landscape becomes more mountainous, the nights…
travel essay: hiking roy’s peak
The afternoon sun is hot on my shoulders as I make my way from my car to the start of the track. Above me, the peak rises almost vertical, the trail obscured by the shrubs and tussocks on the mountainside. There are still people arriving – like me, late to the party – to the…
new zealand: a hiker’s paradise, part three
This week’s hiking in New Zealand post kicks off on the South Island. From Wellington, you can see the Marlborough Sounds, and since they’re on pretty much the same latitude, the climate is very similar. The further south you go, the more varied the landscape and the climate gets. Expect chillier nights, warm days, and…
new zealand: a hiker’s paradise, part two
Last week, I posted part one in this series about hiking in New Zealand. In it, I wrote about how to prepare for various hikes and what the climate is like in different parts of New Zealand. I also wrote about various hikes across the northern part of New Zealand’s North Island. Its a lot…
new zealand: a hiker’s paradise, part one
When you google New Zealand, what images come up? Stunning landscapes, trails through pristine wilderness, rushing waterfalls, vistas over broad lakes, snow-capped mountains… It’s easy to imagine trekking through this sublime land and many do. There are so many great walks across New Zealand, and nine of them are actually referred to as Great Walks….
travel essay: hiking the bealey spur track
It was the perfect day for a hike. We awoke in the crisp autumn air, a slight icy condensation on the car windows, to a hazily clear sky and snow peaked mountains all around us. Taylor and I both knew we wanted to hike; what we didn’t know was which track. We had camped the…
travel essay: hiking mount taranaki
I crawl out of bed in the grey dawn light and make my way to the kitchen. I’m about to attempt hiking Mount Taranaki, near New Plymouth, New Zealand, with my friend Dan. We are both hikers, but Taranaki is a strenuous hike and the weather doesn’t look great. Dan is already up, his leaving…