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hello from Queenstown
I've got to run and meet Britt for lunch, so just a quickie. Anyway, I'm kind of disappointed in my own travel updates because I keep thinking of all these wonderful and quirky stories I want to share (like the remarkable linguistic coincidence that "Punakaiki" is the Maori name for the spot called "Pancake Rocks" in English - okay, it must be a cognate, right? But it turns out that "puna" means spring (as in, water; these are filled with blow-holes) and "kaiki" means to be in a heap (because the rock structure is flat strata like, say, PANCAKES). I don't think it's completely a coincidence - I am sure that there was some sounds-like influence in one direction or the other - but still, cool, no?) but forgetting them as soon as I sit in front of the computer.
We did not get heli-hiking weather; in fact, it was raining when we got out of bed, so instead we blew that joint and drove to Haast, where the rain started easing up, and hung out there at the visitor's center just long enough for it to start to really clear for the exceptionally scenic drive over Haast Pass. We did a few short stops and hikelets along the way, and by the time we got to Lake Hawea it was gorgeous weather (er, partly because we were now on the dry side of the Southern Alps!) and so we camped at a splendiferous campground right on the (huge, lovely) lake - quiet and isolated, yet a short walk to the small town where we had a delicious dinner out, then got a slice of cake to go and shared it back at our campsite with some hot tea cooked on our campstove.
The next morning we drove past Wanaka up the Mt. Aspiring road and did the Rob Roy Glacier hike, which was utterly incredible, because you are just hiking up this forest trail, and suddenly, WHAMMO, hanging glacier at the end of the valley RIGHT IN YOUR FACE! And we had totally blue-sky weather for a change. Then we camped for FREE (for the FIRST TIME!) at a nearby trailhead, and the next morning drove to Queenstown, birthplace of bungy jumping (we drove out to look at the jumping bridge) where we are now, buying food and doing laundry and making arrangements for our next hikes (and not jumping off bridges). Tomorrow we head out for five days on the combined Caples and Routeburn tracks; then we have three days before hiking the Kepler Track, during which we might try to get a Milford Sound cruise in.
(thanks for your comments on the last post, guys, no time to reply, sorry!)
ETA: 12 photos from Haast Pass and Rob Roy Glacier areas
We did not get heli-hiking weather; in fact, it was raining when we got out of bed, so instead we blew that joint and drove to Haast, where the rain started easing up, and hung out there at the visitor's center just long enough for it to start to really clear for the exceptionally scenic drive over Haast Pass. We did a few short stops and hikelets along the way, and by the time we got to Lake Hawea it was gorgeous weather (er, partly because we were now on the dry side of the Southern Alps!) and so we camped at a splendiferous campground right on the (huge, lovely) lake - quiet and isolated, yet a short walk to the small town where we had a delicious dinner out, then got a slice of cake to go and shared it back at our campsite with some hot tea cooked on our campstove.
The next morning we drove past Wanaka up the Mt. Aspiring road and did the Rob Roy Glacier hike, which was utterly incredible, because you are just hiking up this forest trail, and suddenly, WHAMMO, hanging glacier at the end of the valley RIGHT IN YOUR FACE! And we had totally blue-sky weather for a change. Then we camped for FREE (for the FIRST TIME!) at a nearby trailhead, and the next morning drove to Queenstown, birthplace of bungy jumping (we drove out to look at the jumping bridge) where we are now, buying food and doing laundry and making arrangements for our next hikes (and not jumping off bridges). Tomorrow we head out for five days on the combined Caples and Routeburn tracks; then we have three days before hiking the Kepler Track, during which we might try to get a Milford Sound cruise in.
(thanks for your comments on the last post, guys, no time to reply, sorry!)
ETA: 12 photos from Haast Pass and Rob Roy Glacier areas
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I'm sorry I haven't commented much lately. Real Life has been even more hectic than usual.
*hugs*
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