So after my 'rest' day in Queenstown I was ready to set off on my last great walk - the Routeburn walk from Glenorchy to the Divide which is over some mountain range intbetween Queenstown and Milford Sound.
I didn't have the best weather for this walk so this did affect how I felt about the overall walk. But the first day was ok...nice walk along the forest line making your way up and it was quite a long up to the Routeburn Falls Hut. That part of the walk wasn't my favourite part it was actually the morning of the next day that was more stunning. But I met a really nice English couple in the Hut and we joined in with another group to figure out all the different languages that were written up on this huge wall hanging in the Hut. We had to guess 20 different languages to receive a huge slab of chocolate! So obviously everything was fully up for the challenge! And we won! but I didn't really do a lot bar....but still got some chocolate so that was pretty good.
The next morning I had to get up and start walking at 7AM because I had 23km to walk and a bus to catch at 3pm. But it turned out to be the most gorgeous part of the day and I had to stop every few minutes to capture the incredible morning light hitting the craggy mountains.
It was such a magical time in the morning and I was actually so happy to be up at that time because for the rest of the day the clouds came over and it actually started to rain a bit which clouded the mountains top which we should have been able to see but never mind. That is the 2nd day in 2 months that I've had rain so I didn't really mind too much.
After completing Routeburn Walk I was pretty happy to spend 4 hrs sitting in a bus getting over to Mt Cook village. Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in NZ and named after James Cook the explorer who mapped a lot of NZ back in the day.
I did a stunning day walk up to Mueller hut which is described as hard in the guide books and they certainly got that bit right! It was super hard but the views were well worth it and I actually met an English guy at the hut so we had loads to chat about - so all in all - a great work out, great views, and great chats.
So after all of that! I might actually be walked out! I know who knew that would happen but I am taking a big rest. Next destination is Christchurch. I only spent 1 day there because after the earthquake 2 years ago things are still pretty broken and there isn't the same city anymore. But I had a good day walking around....learning about the effects of the earthquake but actually quite surprised that things hadn't moved on or that the city is still struggling to get itself back on track. But I guess these things take their own time.....so I swiftly moved onto Kaikoura which is a cute little village on the coast.
spent 2 full days in Kaikoura which is a little town popular for whale watching, seal and dolphin swimming but I did none of that! I actually just chilled out and did nothing!! It was Tash's birthday on the 6th so I gave her a call and we had a massive catch up about what we had been up to and future plans etc so that was great. But other than that I had no inclination to do anything else bar read my book and go out for coffee!!
So I am now back in Wellington for my last week visiting a friend I met on the Heaphy Track. So just planning nothing and enjoying being in a big city with a bit of buzz and getting ready to move to Oz!
all for now J xxx
I didn't have the best weather for this walk so this did affect how I felt about the overall walk. But the first day was ok...nice walk along the forest line making your way up and it was quite a long up to the Routeburn Falls Hut. That part of the walk wasn't my favourite part it was actually the morning of the next day that was more stunning. But I met a really nice English couple in the Hut and we joined in with another group to figure out all the different languages that were written up on this huge wall hanging in the Hut. We had to guess 20 different languages to receive a huge slab of chocolate! So obviously everything was fully up for the challenge! And we won! but I didn't really do a lot bar....but still got some chocolate so that was pretty good.
The next morning I had to get up and start walking at 7AM because I had 23km to walk and a bus to catch at 3pm. But it turned out to be the most gorgeous part of the day and I had to stop every few minutes to capture the incredible morning light hitting the craggy mountains.
It was such a magical time in the morning and I was actually so happy to be up at that time because for the rest of the day the clouds came over and it actually started to rain a bit which clouded the mountains top which we should have been able to see but never mind. That is the 2nd day in 2 months that I've had rain so I didn't really mind too much.
After completing Routeburn Walk I was pretty happy to spend 4 hrs sitting in a bus getting over to Mt Cook village. Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in NZ and named after James Cook the explorer who mapped a lot of NZ back in the day.
I did a stunning day walk up to Mueller hut which is described as hard in the guide books and they certainly got that bit right! It was super hard but the views were well worth it and I actually met an English guy at the hut so we had loads to chat about - so all in all - a great work out, great views, and great chats.
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| mt Cook |
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| up at mueller hut |
So after all of that! I might actually be walked out! I know who knew that would happen but I am taking a big rest. Next destination is Christchurch. I only spent 1 day there because after the earthquake 2 years ago things are still pretty broken and there isn't the same city anymore. But I had a good day walking around....learning about the effects of the earthquake but actually quite surprised that things hadn't moved on or that the city is still struggling to get itself back on track. But I guess these things take their own time.....so I swiftly moved onto Kaikoura which is a cute little village on the coast.
spent 2 full days in Kaikoura which is a little town popular for whale watching, seal and dolphin swimming but I did none of that! I actually just chilled out and did nothing!! It was Tash's birthday on the 6th so I gave her a call and we had a massive catch up about what we had been up to and future plans etc so that was great. But other than that I had no inclination to do anything else bar read my book and go out for coffee!!
So I am now back in Wellington for my last week visiting a friend I met on the Heaphy Track. So just planning nothing and enjoying being in a big city with a bit of buzz and getting ready to move to Oz!
all for now J xxx
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