Walking madness!

So I did plan to do a lot of walking in South Island and my ankle (thank god) did not interfere with any of my plans. After completing the Heaphy Track I set off down the West and windy coast of the South Island. My first stop was at Punakaiki - which is a really small little place and you can see the 'pancake rocks' there.

And I also did this really nice walk - a gentle 5 hrs around the surrounding area which wasn't meant to be that long but kinda ended up being that long and by that time I was exhausted so hitched a ride back to my hostel! very lazy but very necessary.

After that I got back onto the bus and stopped briefly in a small place called Hokitka which wasn't very interesting before making my way down to Fox Glacier which was actually super cool. I had a really good day and I hiked up to see the glacier which wasn't as impressive as the Puerto Moreno glacier but still good to go and see. The Fox glacier had this lovely grain through the ice which is all the mud and rock it has picked up and because it hasn't rained in a while and I thought that made it look even better.

Glacier formed a bit part of the landscape in NZ was it was great to see one along the way of my travels. This is the less busy  and less touristy glacier and you can even do a skydive over it which I thought would be really amazing but wanted to save my money for other activities.

Fox glacier

The walk to Fox glacier

So back again on the Intercity bus and off down to Wanaka which is a small town on the edge of a massive lake and really pretty. But I was only staying one night so I didn't do much around the area but just met up with some other travellers I had met before and we all cooked dinner together and had a few beers by the lake which apparently is 'the thing' to do!

Back on the bus down to Queenstown now which is the busiest place I have been and probably the most touristy but at the same time I was loving all of that. Most of the places on the West Coast are pretty small and quiet so it was nice to have a bit of a buzz around the place. I settled in and sorted out my track stuff. Decided to do the Ben Lomond which is a good 5/6 hr hike UP a MASSIVE hill! Why I decided to do this before my 3 day Kepler track I will never know! But the hike was totally worth it and simply outstanding views.

part of queenstown

at the top!

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gorgeous vista

Straight after walking up the Ben Lomond mountain! I headed off to Te Anau to walk the Kepler track with is one of the Great Walks of NZ. Its a 3 day 2 night walk with the most AMAZING walk on the 2nd day. It surpassed all the other walks I have done so far and took the biscuit! The top alpine walking I have done and my eyes could not believe what they were seeing but also my camera is probably woefully inadequate to show the full incredibleness of the scenery because it was out of this world.

Kepler track pics

1st night hut

highest point jump - in my new very pink waterproof

wiggly path

kinda massive mountains for company!

almost the end of day 2

beautiful wetland

So as you can see its a pretty diverse walk over the 3 days. I enjoyed all of it- of course! And met some really great people along the way as usual. I think my favourite people are the walking people I meet on hikes because they are the most like minded people and always slightly crazy so I fit right in!

So Kepler completed and only the Routeburn and Mueller hut to go now on my list of walks to do.  The Routeburn is only 2 days and Mueller hut is a day walk but I think I might actually be walked out by the end of the trip!

Anyway enjoy all the pics and my silly writings.

All for now

Jess xxx