I do not even know where to begin to describe the amazing three weeks we just had with our mate Matt! We covered a lot of ground and experienced so many incredible things! We started our time together in Queenstown, went south to see Milford and Doubtful Sounds and then ventured north along the west coast, through Arthur's Pass, and eventually into Christchurch where with heavy hearts we had to say farewell. Dan and I had an amazing time showing Matt around and sharing a portion of this adventure with him! Our time was filled with tranquil tramps, magnificent snow-capped mountains, fantastic fiords, glamorous glaciers, ridiculous rain-forests, superb sunny weather, and lots of laughter and memories along the way!
We started in Queenstown (the scenery of this city gives New Zealand a pretty amazing first impression). We explored the city, rode the gondola, and had lunch in a campground with one of my favorite views in NZ thus far. Then we started the impressive drive to Te Anu so that we could get Matt on a bus to Milford Sound the next day. Matt enjoyed a very wet but incredible day in Milford and saw more waterfalls than he will ever likely see again.
The next day we all did Doubtful Sounds. This is an experience I don't think any of us will ever forget. In order to get to Doubtful sounds we first had to cross Lake Manapouri, which was stunning all on it's own.
Than we boarded a bus and went for a 45 minute bus ride through the bush. Many of the trees were covered in snow which made us feel like we were in a winter wonderland. After the bus ride we were officially in the Doubtful Sounds. Here we got back on a boat and spent 3 hours cruising through some of the most impressive and peaceful landscapes I have ever seen.
It felt like we were the only people for hundreds of miles (which was probably mostly true). They were so remote, peaceful, and grand all at once! As you may notice from our red noses, it was cold on board but not cold enough to ruin the beauty. We also were blessed with a sunny, dry, and calm day which is not common among these fiords. It was a perfect day and an amazing beginning to Matt's time with us!
After Doubtful we traveled back to Queenstown and spent the day in Glenorchy which is a very fun wild west town located at the tip of the massive Lake Wakatipu which sourrounds Queenstown. Then we had a wonderful dinner with our Canadian friends that we met in the Catlins! The next highlight was the town of Wanaka which blew all of my expectations out of the water!!
We spent 3 days in Wanaka which is such a beautiful area completely surrounded by massive, snow-capped mountains. We did two very difficult, but completely amazing hikes in Wanaka: Rocky Mountain and Isthmus Peak.
Rocky Mountain was not super long or steep but it was very icy and the track was very narrow. Many times we were at the edge of a very steep cliff and under our feet was glare ice. We all got a little nervous but when we made it to the top all of those fears vanished because the view was breath-taking!
Isthmus Peak took us about 7 hours to complete. It was 16 km total and very steep most of the way. Towards the end we tramped the mountain ridge for a while which was amazing! The peak was very cold but had an incredible view.
To our left was Lake Wanaka and to our right was Lake Hawea. Both lakes are huge and we had 360 views of impressive snow-capped mountains towering over the lakes! We all felt very accomplished after this hike and were running on adrenaline for quite a while after it!
Wanaka was a very fun town, much smaller than Queenstown but still with incredible mountain scenery. It was not easy to leave, but eventually we had to continue our journey. From here we started towards the glaciers of the west coast. Stay tuned for my next post which will have all of the details of the second half of our adventures with Matt!
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