North part:
Well post some 75/ 80 miles of leg work in south and bidding everyone goodbyes ( always little down day for everyone) people dispersed continuing their further adventures or went back home.
Headed out to explore Fiordland NP. En route lake Te Anau was nice break to see the Fiordland movie, general walks around lake and area. Did hiking on some portion of Kepler track to Hut, beautiful walk among the trees, moss covered grounds. Trail winds through forest with rolling hills, happened to meet nice couple at the end of hike and they confirmed what was there as falcon. Their daughter is editor for magazine, was real pleasure talking to them, they sharing some local things too.
Well after wearing all hiking gear for all these days, shoes etc etc, evening dinners were great with
change of attire but still, just got fed up and no one would even guess what I wore to this park Fiordland NP, heels and jeans, felt nice for once out of hiking / walking shoes :) , ha ha I am sure while walking the deck on mirror lakes some people were wondering has she come to NP or what's up ... :) hahaha :). Well just in time for boat quick change of shoes & got lucky in seeing wildlife, waterfalls etc. later did some hikes around, one in particular 'key summit alpine track' just did hard trail run coming back. Going up and down might have been an hour and half ... views atop are beautiful. Had just one day and did couple more hikes before driving back to Queens town.
Explored gardens, ocean side walk, could have squeezed in something more this morning but, n'ways and flew out to Auckland, reached almost later in the evening.
Just walking around downtown and visiting boat launch, it was great experience to see Volvo ocean race informative with insides of race boats and plastic in oceans film besides everything else.
Sky walk option on tower had just closed for the day, hence got postponed to last day just before flight back to Seattle. It was raining pretty hard last day morning and chances seemed slim, but alas little clearing and could do that, it was very windy morning. Four enthu people with a guide we marched at the top. Nice thing to do, many acrobatics are done while walking and city views out in open are great. Wind can cause nice resistance and add to the challenge. At 192 meters high, dangling outside and walking on rim about an hour is worth doing.
Morning walk up Mt. Eden hill provided good city views, later the Hamilton gardens (having seen some other gardens), given choice would have loved to do something else instead, n' ways, Don't get me wrong they are really beautiful gardens. Hobbit Movie set tour with enthusiastic guide makes it more interesting. Well on our hike too in southern part we came across some locations and Peter was good at pointing them out or explaining that was neat. Evening venturing out the natural bridges, falls, caves, Ruakuri hike is good with tunnels,etc short hikes in Waitomo area.
I am so glad had booked Abseiling in cave thing beforehand and it turned out great. Am sure entire staff here is really good and you are in good hands all through out. Abseiling 100 meters free hanging in cave, climbing 30 meters straight up ladder, watching glowworms, eel and all in the darkness ( there are headlamps but switching them off gives nice feeling when not walking), very nice thing. Super cool.Our team of 4 with guide had lot of fun and came to know so many new things from individuals.
Rotorua bay side walk is by the water , government park , city walks , waimangu volcanic valley , mount Haszard hiking trail is steep stair walk up and down besides Okere falls scenic reserve, Cathedral cove ocean walk, highway 309 various hikes, kauri block walk, Drive creek railway is worth riding and forest surrounding is built over time. Many other things one can not cover much in one night stay. For longer tracks return trip is sure.
Come to think of it and now that have an idea about area, more days could have been spent in some towns to do more larger tracks and cover more grounds, many things next time. Having additional 70 some miles of leg work done post south island, back to place called home.
Instagram Gallery1:-
Instagram gallery2:-
North Newzealand Photogallery
Well post some 75/ 80 miles of leg work in south and bidding everyone goodbyes ( always little down day for everyone) people dispersed continuing their further adventures or went back home.Headed out to explore Fiordland NP. En route lake Te Anau was nice break to see the Fiordland movie, general walks around lake and area. Did hiking on some portion of Kepler track to Hut, beautiful walk among the trees, moss covered grounds. Trail winds through forest with rolling hills, happened to meet nice couple at the end of hike and they confirmed what was there as falcon. Their daughter is editor for magazine, was real pleasure talking to them, they sharing some local things too.
Well after wearing all hiking gear for all these days, shoes etc etc, evening dinners were great with
Explored gardens, ocean side walk, could have squeezed in something more this morning but, n'ways and flew out to Auckland, reached almost later in the evening.Just walking around downtown and visiting boat launch, it was great experience to see Volvo ocean race informative with insides of race boats and plastic in oceans film besides everything else.
Sky walk option on tower had just closed for the day, hence got postponed to last day just before flight back to Seattle. It was raining pretty hard last day morning and chances seemed slim, but alas little clearing and could do that, it was very windy morning. Four enthu people with a guide we marched at the top. Nice thing to do, many acrobatics are done while walking and city views out in open are great. Wind can cause nice resistance and add to the challenge. At 192 meters high, dangling outside and walking on rim about an hour is worth doing.
Morning walk up Mt. Eden hill provided good city views, later the Hamilton gardens (having seen some other gardens), given choice would have loved to do something else instead, n' ways, Don't get me wrong they are really beautiful gardens. Hobbit Movie set tour with enthusiastic guide makes it more interesting. Well on our hike too in southern part we came across some locations and Peter was good at pointing them out or explaining that was neat. Evening venturing out the natural bridges, falls, caves, Ruakuri hike is good with tunnels,etc short hikes in Waitomo area. |
| Abseiling 100 meters just using rope in cave |
Rotorua bay side walk is by the water , government park , city walks , waimangu volcanic valley , mount Haszard hiking trail is steep stair walk up and down besides Okere falls scenic reserve, Cathedral cove ocean walk, highway 309 various hikes, kauri block walk, Drive creek railway is worth riding and forest surrounding is built over time. Many other things one can not cover much in one night stay. For longer tracks return trip is sure.
Come to think of it and now that have an idea about area, more days could have been spent in some towns to do more larger tracks and cover more grounds, many things next time. Having additional 70 some miles of leg work done post south island, back to place called home.
Instagram Gallery1:-
Instagram gallery2:-
North Newzealand Photogallery
