Thursday, 26 January 2012

Blenheim (the wine region !)

A short drive from Picton is Blenheim; not necessarily the prettiest of towns along the way, however it has one very big lure.....it is a major Wine Region !That's right what better way to spend a day than with a bike and a whole load of wineries, which give you free tastings. However our original plan of cycling round all the wineries was slightly thwarted by my arm being in a sling...cue a genius idea from me..

"why don't we see if they have a tandem? I mean, that'll be fun won't it Kip? What's the worst that could happen; you, me, a tandem and a lot of free wine....?"

So we got a map of the wine regions and had been told which ones to target by other travellers we had met along the way. We got to the bike shop early to get saddled up.

Ok, here goes nothing...after a few false starts and profanities at each other we were off and trying to navigate the main highway through Blenheim. The hardest bit was actually trying to cycle together, as when one person wanted to stop pedalling, you couldn't just stop, as this would invariably prompt a few choice words from the other person who came to an abrupt stop, mid pedal.

Needless to say after the first few wineries we managed to get into a good rhythm and it became second nature. The wineries were great and real mix of large manufacturing places with household names, to the smaller boutique type places that had a few acres of land and did everything themselves.

Throughout the day we managed to see 8 different wineries, trying 4 or 5 small glasses of their finest plonk in each. Lunch was just on the grass along the way out of one of the wineries.

All in all we managed to cycle round trip of 40Km, which was quite a shock, considering we thought it might be 15-20 tops! Kip did a great job at the helm, with me and my sling at the rear providing moral support. We didn't crash once, although there were a few uncertain moments when i turned round (not thinking) and in doing so shifted my weight, which through the bike way off path and meant Kip had to struggle to keep the thing upright and in control.

A great day out and a fantastic way to see the wineries and enjoy New Zealand's finest plonk.

Picton & The Marlborough Sounds

As seems to continue to happen in New Zealand, you visit one place and then the next place you go to seems to outshine the last. This time Picton and the Marlborough Sounds. This is in the NE corner of the South Island and where most people come across on the ferry from the North Island.
Our plan here is again to explore of the great NZ walks called the Queen Charlotte track. In a similar vein to the Abel Tasman we are not planning to walk the entire thing, as this will take 4 days and need camping equipment. So we chose the 2 main sections, manageable in a day, and booked a water taxi to take us there.

The first day's walk was at the furthest end and started at a place called Ship Cove. This was where Captain Cook stopped and based himself to explore the South Island. It was about an hour's boat ride from port of Picton, but this gave us a great view of the Queen Charlotte track from the boat.

Now i know that people say that you meet people you know all round the world and freaky things happen, but no sooner had we jumped off the boat at Ship Cove, that i thought i recognised a couple ahead. A lovely couple called Dot & Peter Mayne, who go to St Paul's church and i have loosely known for years. Low and behold, i stop them and IT IS THEM!

They were over in Christchurch visiting one of their daughters and had taken a short break up to the Marlborough Sounds...of all the places, timings, situations....!
So after that nice, but unexpected, hello we cracked on with our 5 hour walk along the track. The track had a number of steep climbs along the way, but being up high gave us great views through the trees to see down to the sea, bays and beaches.

We arrived at our pickup point at one of the lodges along the way and took a slow boat back to port, via a number of the other bays and picking up other walkers. A nice little bay called Honeymoon Bay caught me eye too!

That night we retreated to our hostel to rest up. The best bit about this hostel (and i promise not the reason we picked it) was the fact that at 8pm they served free chocolate pudding nad ice cream...Whoop ! This was much needed and of course well earned after the hours of walking we had been doing.

The next day we again boarded a water taxi, but took a short 20 miute trip to another section of the Queen Charlotte Track. This time we planned to do a short walk of 2/3 hours and finish at a lovely little lodge called Lochmara lodge. We decided to treat ourselves and stay the night in the Lodge (i know, no free pudding, but i'll survive). Luckily we had given our bags to the water taxi guy so we didnt have to lug them on our walk.

We arrived at Lochmara lodge mid afternoon, had lunch and chilled out. The lodge had a large series of grounds with various art works and landscaped areas to chill out and be away from the world, just what we needed.

That night we enjoyed a meal out - now this sounds daft, but in 9 weeks of being in NZ we only ate out a handful of times, so as you can imagine, we were quite excited. The lodge was great and a nice change to the usual hum of a hostel. The next morning we headed back to Picton and collected our car and large backpacks stored at the hostel.

Nelson & the Abel Tasman

So after our defeated visit to Nelson Lakes, we were pleased to see that Nelson itself was a better place to be. A large port in the North of the South Island and a large one at that. It was nice to be in a bigger and busier place after the sparse-ness of the West Coast.

We found a really nice hostel in Nelson called the bug (so called due to all the VW beetle stuff adorning the place). A good place to base ourselves for the next few nights. The next day we explored Nelson town and the surroudings, but after we had spent a good 2/3 hours in the local Information centre and Dept. of conservation (DOC) office to figure out about what to do in the infamous Abel Tasman National Park.

We emerged with our heads buzzing with options, leaflets, but a clearer idea of how we were going to see the place. We spent the rest of the day mooching round Nelson town. Lots of shops, sights and things to do. The cathedreal was impressive, inspite of the 50's inspired spire  at one end.

We then saw a sign for the Centre of New Zealand - so we thought we would give it a try and see if it actually was the centre. Yep, it was. A short walk up a steep hill (again)  and we got to the top to see some great views of Nelson and the surrounds. Also the actual centre point, where they measure all the distances in NZ from.

The next day we headed a short 1 hour drive north towards the Abel Tasman NP and stayed in a little town called Motueka, again in a lovely backpackers. This one was situated on the edge of an apple orchard and was definitley one of the better ones!

The Abel Tasman NP is another of New Zealand's finest national parks and a must do on the route round the south island. As with the other parks in NZ, the Dept of Conservation have restricted and controlled the development of anything in the parks which give these places their peace, quiet and remoteness which is hard to find in many other places.

We planned 2 day trips to explore different parts of the park, sadly because i had broken my collar bone, we were not able to do the kayaking option, where you set off in to the blue, visiting each sandy bay en route and enjoying the views from the sea. However in stead on the first day we drove to the start of the track and walked 4 hours to the first main bay and got a water taxi back to the car. The 4 hour walk was great and along the way took many little detours off the main track, down to secluded and empty beaches to enjoy the view-

The water taxis are so well setup and gave us the option to see the place by sea, rather than panting and struggling in a sea kayak (a bonus of breaking the collar bone !)

The following day we took the water taxi further up in to the park and got dropped off at a bay (Bark's Bay) about half way up the track. With the weather being better than the day before and more time on our hands we had a great, relaxed walk north towards some of the less well trodden beaches/bays. Again some great scenery, with lots of little bays and beaches dotted along the coast, in amongst trees and rocky outcrops in to the sea.

The end of that particular days walk was at a bay called Awaroa and we found a nice little lodge that you could stay in (expensive, but nice to have a nosey round). There is of course the DOC huts that you can use or pitch a tent, but why do that when you can look round a nice lodge.

We waited on the beach for about an hour, relaxing in the sunshine before the water taxi came along to collect us and show us another stretch of coast line en route back to the port.

Overall a great few days walking in the Abel Tasman and good to see another varied landscape the NZ has to offer. We retreated each night back to our lush hostel in Moteuka and again from there planed the next step.

A lovely view from a room in the hostel
As we were up in the North of the South Island we decided to continue up to the top and see the Farewll Spit; the northern most tip of the South Island. We stopped for one night in a little town (by which i mean middle of nowhere) with a nice, well establised hostel which has a lovely garden. The best bit being a massive hammock called the "web" over a small stream.

We went up to see and walk along the "Farewell Spit" and also visit the true most northern tip of the South Isand. So far we will have then travelled to the top and east of the north island and the top of south island. With some more great walks under our belts and more impressive scenery snapped, we drove on to our next destination, Picton.

The West Coast - Part II

After recovering from our New Years eve shenanigans, we continued North up the West coast. There is not a huge amount to see along this stretch, so the next few days were mainly covering the distance.

On route there was a little stop called Punakaiki, where there is a series of rocks that apparently look like pancakes. As I said, not that much to keep you occupied along this stretch; and these just made us hungry and think of pancakes.
We had some company with us on this stretch as we were giving Joe & Emilie a lift, as they were heading in the same direction. This was also welcome company and meant we didn't have to talk to each other (only joking!)

On route we had a brief stop and walked across New Zealand's longest swing bridge. We then got to our next stop, a sleepy little place called Murchison, nothing special about here, except the hostel we stayed in did meals and desserts....that's right, the night we were there, they had sticky toffee puddings. Now I do pride myself on my "one man quest" to try every sticky toffee pudding I can, in an attempt to find the best. I have to say this ranked in the top 3 (the bench mark and number 1 of course being a Ma Donald special!).

We cracked on north to our next destination Nelson, but before we did we stopped at a placed called Nelson Lakes. Now this was supposed to be a nice walk with sceneic views and wonderful vistas. Our optimism however got the better of us. When we arrived in the carpark, it was cloudy, however it was also early-ish in the morning. So we decided to wait a little while and watch the clouds disappear and reveal the view.
After about 45 minuted we decided to get out of the car and try the walk anyway. Needless to say the weather only got worse and in the end it started to fog over as we climbed higher. All in all a good walk but it wassnt the best views we have seen.

Next stop - Nelson

New Years Eve (NZ Stylee)

We started our New Years Eve with an afternoon trip to the a local gorge, aptly named Hokitika Gorge, an impressive little gorge about half an hour out of the town. What was great was the amazing colour of the river running through it. We were told to take our togs for a quick dip and we duly followed suit. However not thinking it all the way through, the water had come straight from the near by snow capped mountains; needless to say it was freezing !The dip was brief, but refreshing.

We headed back to the hostel and got ready for our NYE. A lovely proper dinner followed by a short drive down town to a local view point called Sunset point. We had been told that this was the place to see the best of the West coast's sunrises and sunsets. Also as this was New Zealand, this was of course one of the first places to see the sun setting on 2011. We were not disappointed and had the most awesome sunset and skies to say farewell to 2011.

So with the sun set on the year,we headed back to the hostel to gather supplies and make our way over the road to the desserted beach. Our plan....fire !

What better way to spend a NYE then to collect random bits of drift wood, create a fire pit in the sand, construct seats from old tree stumps and have a fire and drinks. We were joined by Joe (Scouse) and Emilie (Parisian) who we had met a few days before and joined us for NYE. A lovely couple who we would end up travelling with for the coming week together.

So the fire was lit, the beers were open and the stars were out - perfect !

A few others from the hostel joined us nearer to midnight (mainly German's). We talked about what each other's NYE traditions were. Somehow we managed to convince them that at midnight in England, we all did the hokey kokey. So at the stroke of midnight, we were on our feet doing the hokey kokey. Looking back now this is very random and they must have thought us strange, but hey ho, it is memorable to see a small group in the middle of an empty beach doing a random "English Tradition". At about 1am we doused the fire and headed back to the hostel to continue the merriment.

All in all a great NYE and one to remember. However the next morning, my slight over indulgence in more than "just the one beer" had kicked in. A hangover i can deal with; a hangover with a small reaction to the prescription drugs i was on for my shoulder...not adviseable. Ah well, it is not every year you get to see the NY in, with such style!

Monday, 9 January 2012

Christmas in Wanaka

Lake Wanaka
Well after giving Kip the best ever Christmas present of me being confirmed as an invalid by the doctors, we decided to stick to our plans and head to Wanaka, a lovely place about 45 minutes away from Queenstown. Here we would spend the next week chilling out and enjoying the sunshine over christmas. 


It has been weird leading up to Christmas, as usually in the UK there is a non-stop barrage of songs, adverts and deals to make you aware it is fast approaching the festive season. However, with our senses knocked out by having daylight until 10pm at night and it being lovely and warm (sorry if i am rubbing it in) - it just didn`t feel Christmasy.


Anyway, we ventured out on Christmas eve and did a massive shop for proper food, something that we have not done for a long while. Our wedding present from Lin & Mark (in-laws, for those that don`t know) was to have a meal out on Christmas day. However, we decided to not just have 1 meal out but in fact 12. That`s right, we turned it in to the 12 meals of Christmas

So Christmas eve approached and we chilled out at our hostel with a gourmet meal of...fish fingers, chips and baked beans ! Delicious. So midnight was fast approaching and we made sure we were in bed, ready for the big day.


We awoke on Christmas Day and headed for the 8am service at the local church in Wanaka. A lovely little place and a perfect dose of Christmas, carols and communion. We were very fortunate to start talking to a lovely English couple at the church (Bob & Sue), who now live in New Zealand and in the spirit of Christmas they invited us to their place in the afternoon for drinks !






We got back and had a nice breakfast, before opening a few presents under our make shift Christmas tree. After this we ventured out and went off for a walk along the lake edge and soaked up the sunshine. This was still a weird feeling, as last Christmas, Kip and I strolled in Windsor Great Park, in the Snow, freezing our noses off.


For our Christmas lunch what else could we have but a BBQ. So i was dispatched with tongs in my good hand and we cooked up a lovely Christmas day BBQ. After lunch and the obligatory snooze for Kip on Christmas Day, we headed over to Bob & Sue`s to spend a traditional kiwi afternoon. That`s right, outdoors, in the sunshine with a glass or two of something nice and chatting. We then ventured on to the neighbours house and were introduced to many more people from the UK etc who had moved to live in New Zealand. One of whom went to school at Farnborough Hill, only 3 miles down the road from our house in Frimley !!


After all that fun and excitement, there was only one way to wind down. That`s right, a cuppa tea, cheese, biscuits and a glass of port. Some Christmas traditions have to remain the same, regardless of where you are in the world. 


Boxing day was another lovely sunny day and more walks along the lake, followed by chilling out and enjoying the relaxing environs of Wanaka. Kip may also have had another little afternoon Christmas sleep (you know, to keep up with traditions).


Our final few days in Wanaka were spent with me mainly recuperating and not doing too much and avoid anyone walking into my shoulder. 


Although we did manage to visit the local funky cinema, which is the old town hall converted in to a cinema. The seats are an array of sofas, aeroplane seats and a bright yellow Morris Minor. 




We also went to Puzzling World, a weird place consisting of many optical illusions, puzzles and a mad maze that took us 45 minutes to complete. 


And so it was time for us to pack up Christmas and leave Wanaka. Our next trip was to work our way slowly up the West Coast of the South Island and find a suitable place to base ourselves for New Year. 






The West Coast

So after leaving Wanaka, we headed up the rugged West Coast, our first stop was a place called Haast. Sadly the weather wasn`t as good, so the view of the infamous Haast pass, a lovely drive through a mountainous region, was lost on us.



Pushing on, we then reached the first of the 2 main glaciers situated in the Southern Alps region. The first was the Fox Glacier. We took a short 1 hour walk to the face of the glacier to see the mass of ice carving its way through the mountains. All in all, pretty impressive. Sadly becuase of my arm, we were not able to do the walks or heli-hikes on the glacier (but something to add to the list for when we return...).





What amazed me most was the various posts and markers on the drive up to the glacier, charting where the glacier had previously been. Over the years it had receeded up the valley, but only some 70/80 years ago, it was over a Km further down the valley.



We stayed one night in Fox and visited the local beach and lakes. It was noticeable that the beaches along the West coast are rugged and very much windswept. The next day we headed to the other glacier, the Frans Josef Glacier. A similar if not smaller, but prettier glacier (if that is possible). Again a short walk up to the face of the ice and very hard to comprehend the size and scale of these huge slabs of ice. We drove on to a little coastal town called Hokitika, which would be our home for the next 3 nights and NYE !



With NYE approaching, we decided to venture out in to our surroundings to check out the night life. Sadly there was not much. We explored Hokitika, a local mecca for the New Zealand Jade, used in jewellery and other small arts.

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Queenstown take II



After return from the South West and Fiordlands, we would spend the next few days in Queenstown before heading on to Wanaka for Christmas. I had decided to try the local bike park and some down hill mountain biking. The biggest draw was that you could put your bike on the gondola, get to the top and then just peddle down hill! What's the worst that could happen...


So I chose a local shop which was kitted out with an array of expensive bikes and very knowledgeable guys. I had booked a half day bike hire and gondola pass, helmet, body armor and downhill bike. In addition I thought It wise to get an introduction to the place, so a guide from the shop would accompany me on my first 2 runs, show me the bike, terrain and give me some hints and tips for downhilling.


The first run great and nice to get underway. The park was unique and purpose built for mountain bikers. We caught the gondola to the top and set off on our second run of the day on a track called 'Vertigo'! All was going well until about half way down the track. The guide had mentioned that there were a number of points that required a quick decision, left or right. This was usually a jump or a bigger jump, however the decision I came across was left or right, quite simple really. Turn right and you can avoid the tree right infront of you. However my choice of going left was a little miscalculated. Instead of sticking to the proper path, I went head first over the steep edge and into the gravel and bushes.


Before I knew it my momentum had taken me over the handle bars, head (and helmet) meeting ground, followed closely by my right shoulder. Needless to say a few chosen profanties and moans/groans followed. I sat up and righted myself, before feeling rather dizzy and uncomfortable.


image.pngThe guide rushed back up the track to help me out, which was good timing as the 'dizziness' was soon to be 'temporarily unconsciousness'. I came to with the guide calling the ambulance - whoops! I managed to walk down the track to wait for the ambulance, which was on route up the fire tracks to meet us. I hopped on board, had a once over by the paramedics, necked a few paracetamol and supped on some gas & air.


I arrived at A&E and was pleased to see that the guy who follow me in also had a biking accident, however he had been flown in by chopper after snapping his ankle heli-biking. I'm not sure I could have coped with a chopper ride, what with my aversion to bumpy avian flights. Now that would have literally added insult to injury, me vomming on route to A&E!


Anyway, a quick X-ray confirmed that I had indeed broken my right collar bone in two - great! Normally for such an injury they just strap you up and ply you with lots of drugs, as it is not a break that can be bandaged or set in plaster. However the doctor sent my X-ray down to the main hospital in Invercargill to the orthopedic guys and I had to wait until the next morning to hear the options. That being do nothing and let it heal by itself, or have an op to screw it together.


So Kip came and picked me up and took me back to the hostel. The most annoying thing about the whole day (apart from breaking my collar bone and paying for half days hire and only using an hour of it) was that tonight was supposed to be Ferg burger night.




In Queenstown there is a legendary burger place called Ferg burger and tonight was to be that night. However having not eaten all day I felt I'd earnt one, so Kip was dispatched with my order. Wow what a great burger, although having to get used to doing everything with my left hand proved novel, especially when trying to eat a big burger.
The night passed with an ok nights sleep, the drugs helped alot, although sleeping upright is just weird. I heard from the hospital in Invercargill the next morning and they said that they may consider the surgery, but suggested I wait one week, have another xray to see if any progress is made naturally and then call back....
So the good news is that we can have Christmas together and enjoy that time rather than traipsing 250Km south and waiting for an op. The bad news is that I am an invalid !

Te Anau and the Milford Sounds

Our next adventure after Queenstown and Kinloch was to head South and then West to the Fiordlands and national park; another amazing place from what I have heard. The main attraction here is the Milford sounds and Doubtful sounds, a series of deep fiords carved out by glaciers and now a spectacular opportunity to see waterfalls and tall mountains close up.
Our first stop was a place called Te Anau, a 3-4 hour drive from Queenstown, along a mix of lakeside roads and then long, straight open plains. We arrived in Te Anau after lunch and checked into our hostel, a nice purpose built hostel run by a very efficient and OCD kiwi (no OCD comments please!).


That afternoon we went for an explore along the first part of a local track called the Kepplar Track. Another 3 day trek through forest and wetlands, but this time with a lot more of a sedate gradient, as this was situated along lakes and close to the sea.


The next day was all about the drive to Milford Sounds. Our preference would have been to go to Doubtful sound, but a combination of cost and time meant that it wasn't possible. To get to Doubtful you need to combine a boat, coach and walking trip to just get to the place.

The drive to Milford from Te Anau was about 120 Km, and with the potential for hoards of coaches to join us, we set off early. Along the way to Milford are a number of stop off points. Places such as mirror lake (where if the lake is still you can get a great reflected view-sadly it wasn't), passing through the 45th parallel (mid way point between the equator and the south pole) and the homer tunnel, a tunnel that passes through a large mountain range on the way to Milford. Although our brakes decided to scare us a little, when they started smoking. The constant breaking down hill for long periods of time meant that they needed time to recover!


On the road to Milford












So a pleasant drive with lots to see. As we approached the end of the road the mountains started to get higher and more impressive, until we reached Milford itself. We got there mid afternoon but opted for one of the last cruises on the 'sound' so as to avoid the masses at lunchtime who had travelled from Queenstown on a day trip.


On the road to Milford

The Milford Sound

The boat trip on the Milford Sound was great, a small boat of only about 12 people made it feel less touristy, which was a bonus. The tour was about 2 hours and took us the length of the sound, out to the sea and back again. The surrounding mountains towered over us and were very imposing, although the scariest bit was thinking that the height above us, in terms of mountain ranges, was also below us, carved out in to a very deep fiord. The depths were something daft like twice the depth of Loch Ness, over 350-400m deep (hold onto your car keys and camera...!)



In addition to the mountains and deep fiords, there was also a number of stunning waterfalls, two of which stood out as being particularly amazing. Again the pictures here don't really convey the size and grandeur of them, but here are a few pictures anyway.


So after our trip on the sound, we headed back to the local lodge for the night. Milford is a very small and secluded place, so accommodation is limited. The next day we set off, along the 120 Km stretch back to Te Anau, with more stops along the way for impromptu walks and to take in the sights. We decided to stretch our legs and went on a 3 hour round trip walk to a place called Lake Marian. A lake situated high up in a mountain bowl. This was most probably the steepest climb we had done to date. It required us to climb over a recent tree and rock avalanche that was quite impressive to see in itself.


We returned and stayed another night back in Te Anau before then heading to Queenstown for a few nights. All in all a great leg of our trip and once again this place just keeps on giving more and more spectacular sights and experiences.

Arrowtown, Queenstown and the Routeburn

Continuing down the centre of the south island, our next stop would be Queenstown. However on route we stopped by a little gold mining village called Arrowtown. Another small, quaint town to stop in and mooch round the shops. Luckily the weather had warmed up by now, but so much so it was actually too hot to enjoy any of the local walks.


Not me !
After Arrowtown we headed to our home for the next few days, Queenstown, the party and adrenalin capital of NZ. Our first stop.....one of the numerous bungy jumps of course. Now let's not be fooled into thinking that I would ever contemplate voluntarily throwing myself off a bridge with a bit of elastic band cabled tied to my feet. But I tell you what, just watching the nutters through themselves off the bridge made my stomach flip. I mean sod that !!


We pushed on to Queenstown to find our home for the next few days. We choose a lovely hostel on the lake's edge and only a short walk into town. Now Queenstown has a very laid back, young, ski-type feel to it and one of the places that you can imagine it having a good, fun feeling no matter what time of the year you arrive. Sunshine in summer and snow in winter. We wandered around town to get our bearings and were surprised how big it was, for a NZ town.


The next morning was overcast, so we headed to a nearby shopping precinct to take a look round and wait until the weather improved. The shopping centre was by Queenstown airport. Now this was mainly used by helicopters ferrying people to the top of nearby mountains to mountain bike or hike (or ski in the winter), so another indication of the sporty nature of the surroundings. There is so much to do: jet boating, bungy jumps, canyon swings, wake boarding, mountain biking, luge, parachute jumps, paragliding, zip lining - you name it, you can throw your self off it. 

A view of Queenstown
That afternoon the weather perked up, so we walked up the nearby hill. Well when I say hill, it has a gondola running up it, so more a mountain, but we decided to walk up. The top though was rewarding and again some great views of Queenstown, the lake and surrounding mountain ranges (called the Remarkables, for obvious reasons). Whilst walking up the forest track, we noticed a great series of mountain bike trails running through the woods (something to do when we come back in a few days time.....ahem!). 





We decided to again watch people chuck themselves off another style of bungy. Although this one had the added factor of being harnessed differently, meaning you could (voluntarily) run, jump and somersault off the edge. Bum clenching watching I can assure you! 


That night we decided to reward ourselves with a few beers in town and then some more and maybe a few more. Needless to say the next day was kinda spent entirely in bed. Apart from getting up to make a cup of tea, I don't think we ventured out into day light until gone 5pm....whoops!


Kinloch
Our next day was more productive than the last. We took the short drive from Queenstown, to Glenorchy and then to Kinloch. Both of these are round the lake front and provide a much more sedate and secluded feel than the buzz of Queenstown. From here we planned to relax for a few days and get out to experience the surrounding walks.
The next day we decided to stretch our legs with a full days hike. Close by was the start of a 3 day trek (or as kiwi's call them a tramp), called the Routeburn track. This is a proper hike, with camping and hut facilities along a route that winds through and over the mountain ranges. We decided to do a return trip to the 2nd hut along the way, a 17 Km walk which would take us 7 hours in all.


We started the track in a cool but very sunny morning and climbed through dense forests. These 
then ran along side crystal clear, blue rivers with some amazing view of streams and rivers, which had started higher up in the snow capped mountains. After 2-3 hours we reached the first hut and took a short breather, whilst taking in the view. We had reached the "flats" an area which as the name suggests had been carved out by the long gone glacier, but it was an impressive space, with falls grasses and a beautiful stream running through it. So far so good, a relatively easy walk. The next bit had the steeper sections in it. We cracked on for 1.5 hours and reached the 2nd hut, close to a waterfall, where we stopped for lunch.


The views from here were truly breath taking, a high up view down over the flats, which were then flanked by the mountains. All of it very impressive. This place just does seem to be surpass itself in every way, the next mountain or river is more impressive than the last.
We headed back and with our return journey down hill we made it back to the car in just over 3 hours. A long walk, but with some spectacular views.
We stayed another night in Kinloch and were grateful of a comfy sofa and tv room stocked with DVDs to relax after our long walk the bonus of free popcorn also helped!