After our stay in Brewster hut Molly and I headed south to the town of Wanaka. The Wanaka area is known for its grand vistas of large lakes surrounded by grassy mountains. The most popular hike, Roy’s Peak, can get extremely busy and usually has a long line of people trying to get that iconic picture. After doing a bit of research, Molly found a less busy but equally as beautiful hike to Isthmus Peak. To beat the sunrise, We started marching up the mountain at 4:30am in the dark. The trail was a very steep slog up a privately owned sheep pasture road. After climbing about 3,700′ of elevation gain we made it to the top and enjoyed the view for about a half hour in twilight before the sun peeked over the mountains.
Our original ambitious New Zealand itinerary had us hiking the Rees Dart Track, a three night 37 mile hut to hut trek. However, we were tired, not equipped with our typical backpacking gear, and really not looking forward to sleeping next to strangers. So we opted to rent an Air BNB and day hike instead. Our Air BNB in Glenorchy was really unique, the kitchen and living room was a modified camper, the bedroom an old box truck, and had a good ol fashioned outhouse. We took it slow and did a few hikes around the area including Glacierburn track and the Routburn Track up to Conical Hill.
One of the most unique landscapes that New Zealand has to offer are the Fjorands on the South Western side of the south island. We booked a boat tour of the most popular fjord, Milford Sound. The drive down to Milford sound was a stunning drive through a glacier carved valley that reminded us a little of Yosemite valley. We had a rare clear day giving us great visibility of the glaciers and snowy mountain peaks. We saw fur seals feeding on a bate ball, dolphins and an eleven armed starfish.
Our last stop in New Zealand was Mount Cook National Park. The area is a beautiful mountain range with huge vivid blue lakes and so many glaciers. In the early morning we hiked to Hooker Lake which had a great view of Mount Cook. Later in the day we climbed up to Mueller Hut. The trail was a grueling 3,400′ climb, but paid off with amazing views of melting glaciers. We watched several small avalanches as we had lunch. We had mixed emotions during our last hike of the trip. We were very ready to get back to our friends and family, wear different clothes, and start the next part of our lives. However, it was also sad to think it would be a while before experiencing another place like this.
The next day we drove to Christchurch and prepared for our long 20 hour journey back home.
Not Sew Fancy Travels 