New Zealand hiking paradise – part I

Panorama of the two highest peaks in New Zealand. From the left : Mount Tasman and Mount Cook

Southern Alps

We finished our 54 days Australian adventure and we landed in Auckland. We had a great time in Australia 18000 km by train, traveled from the desert to the tropical beaches and Great Barrier Reef. Sleep around the fire, watch millions of stairs and enjoy kangaroo meet.

It was hard to left Australia but we have been dreaming about New Zealand for a few years and we could not wait more. It was not so easy to enter in New Zealand. First you have to fill a declaration form and we find a lot of difficult question : Do you use your shoes outdoor, do you have a tent, do you have a contact with animals on the farm…New Zealander, they are really afraid about something which can influenced their environment. They took our tent for checking and we wait quite long to get it back. But finally we get it back, the same with the trekking shoes and equipment. It would be difficult to hiking without this.

In Auckland we spend couple of days and we bought the additional equipment. We did not take so many things from Poland, because so far we have been traveling in a warm, tropic climate. Now our backpacks start to be heavier and heavier.

We travel around New Zealand from Auckland until the most southern point of the country. New Zealand amazed us from Wanaka in the South Island, when we enter to the Alps. Before it was OK, we hike in a very beautiful Abel Tasman National Park, saw some geysers and volcanos in the North Island, discover beautiful beaches and rock formations, hiking in tropical rainforest. Everything was very beautiful but we were far from being amazed. Maybe after living in Norway it is a little bit more difficult. Norway is so beautiful :).

North Island, rock formations

Super Volcano in Tongarino National Park

Walking in the rainforest

After we approach the Alps we see so amazing views that we fall in love on New Zealand. It is easy to love NZ, beautiful wild lakes, snowy mountains, rainforests, glaciers and sunny weather. We stay in Southern Alps for a while and enjoy every day hiking in spectacular scenery.

Mount Aspiring National Park, South Island

Roy’s Peak near Wanaka 

The other side about fall in love in NZ is that we start to make too many photos. The record was 300 per day and it is too much. We set the limit to 100 per day and we will try not to exceed it. It will be very hard, because we still have to visit fjords. New Zealanders told us that the fjordland scenery is not possible to capture by camera. The camera always fails to show the whole beauty of this region. We will see and at least we keep memories. Finger crossed to be there on a clear, sunny day.

Greetings from Ben Lemond (1784m) top (nearby Queenstown), great 360 degrees view for the Southern Alps.