Kepler Track
Just finished the Kepler Track yesterday, another one of the Great Walks of New Zealand. To be honest, it was probably the most beautiful hike (er..tramp) of my life. Instead of talking too much about it, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Total length: 60km (37.7 miles)
Total elevation gain: 2,215 meters (7,270 feet)
(counter-clockwise loop)
Lake Te Anau
First night’s hut, Luxmore Hut! Look how crazy this view from the hut is.
Stay tuned for more Kepler images soon!
The Remarkables
Less than 2 kilometers outside the city of Queenstown, New Zealand, there is 13.5-km winding (and in some places white-knuckle-inducing) road with incredible vistas of Lakes Hayes and the ice blue Kawarau River. At the top is the Remarkables Ski Resort, a well-known place to ski in the winter months. Right now, there is not a hint of snow on the ground, which makes it a perfect time of year to hike around the slopes.
Willie leaves no rock unclimbed!
The vertical hike up to Lake Alta.
Lake Alta, a cirque alpine lake (meaning a carved bowl-shaped from a glacier).
Angela with a celebratory beer for making it to the lake!
We saw some pretty incredible plants on the way up, too. Hardy creatures for such a cold, high, dry altitude!
Hectorella caespitosa
Epilobium porphyrium
Sigaus australis (alpine grasshopper)
Who needs a trail when you can irresponsibly scramble up scree?
The view at the top!
And then you must scramble down.
Somehow we managed to scramble down this without incident.
The lodge from above.
The same lodge in the winter! Photo by Mark H. from TripAdvisor.
Heaphy Track: Part II
Day 3: James Mackay Hut to Heaphy Hut
Okay SO. This bird is exciting. It is called a takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) and looks sort of like a very large colorful chicken with a bright red beak (this was as close as I could get to one, so the image quality isn’t great). They are flightless birds, so once again, have little precaution against humans or human-introduced predators. In the late 1800s the “last” one was caught. They were presumed to be extinct for 50 YEARS until in 1948, a local man out for a tramp (see definition in previous post) stumbled upon one in the wild. Can you imagine being that dude? It would be like seeing a unicorn. After its rediscovery (future searchers found 2 birds), the part of Fiordland park in which they were found was closed off to people in order for the takahē numbers to rebound. Unfortunately, by the 1980s, their numbers were still only a little over 100. The DoC intervened with targeted breeding programs (located at Te Anua, which I will be visiting next week!) and the population has now increased to about 400 individuals. In 2018, 30 adult takahēs were introduced near the Heaphy Track in Kahurangi National Park (specifically Gouland Downs, where this photo was taken). This past week, on the track itself, I saw 5 of them!!! That’s 1/6 of the whole population!! This is the first wild population outside the remote Fiordland Murchison Mountains where they were originally rediscovered. All 30 birds are closely monitored and only one has died of natural causes. Next step will be to see how the breeding and survival rate of chicks goes! If it is successful, it will be major.
Damn. Now that’s a conservation story.
Read more here: Wild takahē return to Kahurangi National Park
And finally, the view from the Heaphy Hut!
Where the Heaphy River meets the ocean.
Day 4: Heaphy Hut to Kohaihai River Mouth (16.2 km) and the disintegration of my character (distance unknown)
Day 4 was spent entirely along the Pacific coast, but this is the day I finally broke. What should have taken 5 hours to finish took nearly 7, and my bent-over dry-heaving on the trail caused alarm in some fellow trampers, who alerted a park ranger who came and literally carried my backpack the rest of the way (maybe 2 kms). Ashamed? Yes. Relieved? YES. Made it to the bus on time? YES!
I’m not sure what did me in. I don’t think it was water contamination. It was probably overexertion from carrying a bag with all my worldly possessions plus a lack of sufficient calories that created a problem I have experienced as well in my last 2 trail runs (though calories weren’t the issue there, I don’t think, nor was the pack). Who knows? Something to keep an eye on.
But look at these views!
The end is nigh!
Heaphy Track
The past 4 days and 3 nights were spent on the Heaphy Track, one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks,” 10 well-maintained tramping (hiking) and mountain-biking trails throughout both North and South Islands.
[Note: I was a little confused by this, but I think tramping and trekking are the same thing. Tramping is the New Zealand-specific word for “a person who walks for long distances in rough country for recreation,” (i.e., a crazy person). Trekking, according to my Apple dictionary, means to “go on a long arduous journey, typically on foot.” A hiker is a tramper’s littlest brother, as hiking simply means, “the activity of going for long walks, especially in the country or woods.” Nothing about rough country in that definition!]
AND TRAMPING IT WAS.
The km/miles/distances seemed to be a little wonky, so above is a real GPS map (not recorded by me, my watch died in the midst) of the entire Heaphy Track, beginning at Brown Hut and ending at Kōhaihai Shelter. The last 1/3 of the trek was right along the Pacific Ocean, which was a welcome site after a grueling few days. Those sandflies, though… I just want to put a quote here from the OG captain (OC), Cpt. Cook, when he explored this area many moons ago, 1773:
The most mischievous animal here is the small black sandfly which are exceedingly numerous and are so troublesome that they exceed everything of the kind I ever met with, wherever they light they cause a swelling and such intolerable itching that it is not possible to refrain from scratching and at last ends in ulcers like the small Pox.
Indeed, they are itchier then mosquitoes and really get you around the ankles. The only way to avoid them is to not stop moving, which makes stopping to catch your breath or appreciate the scenery a little tricky. However! I have discovered a miracle potion called “Bonjela,” a NZ mouth ulcer remedy that is supposed to work wonders on itchy sandfly bites? I am going to get some at the next pharmacy or supermarket I see.
And now,
Day 1: Brown Hut to Perry Saddle Hut (17.5km)
The Heaphy takes a little bit of planning. This shuttle got us from Nelson, NZ on the northern coast to the Brown Hut parking lot (about a 4 hour drive including some other stops), then another bus picked us up at the end of the Heaphy and dropped us off at Westport (about a 2 hour drive). Some people then took another bus back to Nelson, which makes for an insanely long day.
Day 2: Perry Saddle Hut to James Mackay Hut (24.2km)
In the above image you can see a small box on the bottom right corner. This is a stoat trap with poison bait. Don’t look up a picture of a stoat (Mustela erminea + 2 other species) — they are way too cute. They were introduced in the 1870s as a way to control the rabbit population, and while they did a good job of that, they also managed to hunt many bird species to extinction or near-extinction. There has been a massive effort to cull the stoat population in the national parks areas, which these chemicals help achieve (also known as 1080). Introduced rats (ship rats and Norwegian rats) have also become a nuisance, as baby birds are a favorite food source for the rats. Many bird species endemic to the islands have lost the ability to fly, thus making even easier prey to the stoats and rats. Lastly, introduced common brushtail possums have wreaked havoc on the local ecosystem. (Interestingly, possum wool is used here in combination with sheep wool! It’s advertised everywhere in yarn and clothing shops.) Possums were introduced in the 1830s to begin a fur trade. They also love baby bird snacks and the compete with native birds for leaves and fruits of trees. All in all, about 80% of New Zealand’s bird life is threatened by these three species, but the DoC (Department of Conservation) has done an excellent job of culling these introduced species and there is evidence that many bird populations are recovering. It is heartening to hear conservation success stories.
A brief respite at Gouland Downs Hut.
This is a weka bird (Gallirallus australis). They are so numerous on the trail that it’s hard to believe that their conservation status is vulnerable (one level beneath endangered), but I haven’t seen one anywhere else in NZ besides the Heaphy Track. They are sneaky little buggers. I watched one grab a woman’s cell phone and run away! (She got it back.) I watched another one grab a woman’s opened ziplock bag of snacks and run away with it upside so all the snack contents spilled out for the other weka to gobble up.
The boundary bench! Am still a little confused by this - one side (the side I am sitting on) says “West - Buller.” West refers to the West Coast Region, of the 16 total regions throughout NZ. Buller is one of the 3 districts within the WCR. The other side of the bench says “Nelson/Marl - East.” But those two eastern districts completely skip over Tasman??
Can some1 plz explain this 2me???
The huts provided by the DoC on the Great Walks are amazing. This one is James Mackay. There is no electricity, but there are bunk beds with nice mattresses, flush toilets, sinks, and gas burners to cook food with (the DoC claims you have to bring your own cooking equipment but each hut we came across had a full supply of pots and pans, sans salt/pepper/oil). Some places don’t mention that you need to bring your own lighter to light a gas strove, so that’s a little annoying, but luckily NZ’ers are a friendly and generous bunch.
A kitchen with a view!
Is this post long enough yet? I’ll save the 2nd half for later.
Cheers!
Windsong Orchard
The past seven days were spent picking blueberries in the morning, selling plums at the farmer’s market, getting to know the wonderful Crum family (+Matt & Maggie), and eating lots of delicious bread (while sipping on local Sauvignon Blanc). Couldn’t have been happier with my first WWOOF experience!
Whakapapa
Whakapapa is a Māori word for genealogy, and is also the name of a village in Tongariro National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site on the North Island. It also has excellent views of MOUNT DOOOOM (a combination of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, sacred to Māori). A hike on the nearby Taranaki Track reveals resplendent plant life. If I had grown up in New Zealand, I hands down would have become a botanist. And yes, I can’t not think “Waka Flocka” when I see the name.
MOUNT DOOM (above)! Not spewing lava today.
Mount Ruapehu is above in the background (where MOUNT DOOM was also filmed).
Hobbiton
I am totally in awe at the New Zealand countryside.
It has many familiar parts - grasslands, subalpine forests, cattle farms, windy ocean beaches - and yet, there is something different that I haven’t yet put my finger on.
Friday was an excellent day for a hobbit visit! The weather was gorgeous. Our tour guide, Katie, was a recent college grad from Arkansas who immediately got on a plane to New Zealand as soon as she could.
So, the hobbit holes were cool but LOOK AT THIS ANT(?) DRAGGING A SPIDER.
Sorry to put the highlight up first...I’m sure most of you will be satisfied enough with that image, but for those who want the holes, here they are:
Can you find which tree is fake in the above image? (trunk made of fiberglass, leaves made of silk)
The oak tree above Bag End is not real! Sir Peter Jackson wanted to create a tree that was true to the story of the Hobbit, which took place ~60 years before the Lord of the Rings, so he had to make a tree that looked younger. To do so, he built a tree with 376,000 hand-painted leaves intricately sewn in to the fiberglass bark. When the leaves become faded, workers individual repaint the leaves. Looks pretty doggone real though, right?
Lastly, we topped it off with a choice of ginger beer, a dark ale, a lager, or a cider from the Green Dragon!
GMT +13
Matamata
POOF. I am in New Zealand. I had barely begun to write about the Amazon, and it has been radio-silence here about the Galapagos. And already I have dived (dove? doven? doved? dived myself?) even further into the Southern Hemisphere, the only hemisphere I had never before been to.
I am going to do some back-and-forth dances for a minute. I want to keep up to date on the blog, but occasionally I will intersperse pictures from Ecuador.
First, it was probably the longest 3 days of my life to get here.
Baltra, Galapagos -> Guayaqil -> Quito -> Atlanta (12 hour layover) -> Los Angeles -> Sydney -> Auckland -> 2 hr drive to Airbnb.
That trip was hands down the longest/most consecutive flights I have ever suffered in my life. No sleep (except for a few hours stolen in Atlanta) from (local times) 6am Monday - 7pm Thursday. FOR 66 HOURS.
I zoinked out immediately at the Airbnb. I haven’t slept so deeply.
Which is too bad, because it was one of the most beautiful Airbnbs I have ever seen. A feijoa orchard near Matamata (a pretty famous one, it turns out, hosted by a Dutch-turned-Kiwi family that have won many national sustainability awards for their work).
Come again? FAY-ZHOW-UH?
I had never heard of it either! But it is a magical delicious fruit that from a distance looks like a lime + avocado hybrid. From close up it tastes like tart tomato, pineapple, and other flavors that I don’t have words for. It’s sweet, tart, fruity, and would be excellent in an apple-feijoa crisp. This is going to be more popular one day than kiwis, I bet. Or at least will be a household name. You heard it here first!
Looky here at this majestic farm life:
feijoa images: Milkwood.net
NEXT STOP: HOBBITON
Galápagos Birds
I can’t even begin to describe what a feast on the eyes and mind the Galápagos Islands were. I spent 7 days on a catamaran with 14 other tourists and a full crew. Our guide, Paola, was a native to the islands and had an encyclopedic memory of all flora, fauna, geology, culture, etc. There was hardly a question that she did not know the answer to. To give you a taste, I am highlighting here the photography of Athene Blakeman, a brilliant photographer with whom I was lucky to share a boat for a week. These are a taste of the animals we saw, and I will continue to add more of my own pictures and stories to complement her excellent eye. Nearly everything in these photos she and I saw together, so it does not feel disingenuous to show my own experience through her lens.
![Blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii). Both males and females have blue feet. Their name comes from the Spanish word for clown or fool [bobo] because they lift their feet up dramatically and dance to attract their mates (as shown here). It is a sexua…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deefba5fbe89c56400f287f/1580672840101-VR4AEMDVLVK9R8Y2ZRUZ/Boobies.jpeg)
Blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii). Both males and females have blue feet. Their name comes from the Spanish word for clown or fool [bobo] because they lift their feet up dramatically and dance to attract their mates (as shown here). It is a sexually selected trait, so the bluer the feet, the more desirable the male to the female. The blue comes from carotenoids from a healthy diet of fresh fish. Carotenoids are good for the immune system. Thus, the blue feet are a good representation of the bird’s immune health.
One of the 17 finch species found in the Galápagos!
A juvenile magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). These birds are all over the Galápagos (along with a very similar species, the great frigatebird (Fregata minor)). They soared alongside our boat as we moved from island to island. They are known as kleptoparasites, meaning they occasionally rob food from other birds. Tropicbirds, shown below, are often a victim of this thievery.
The red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus), shown flying in search of food. See the long tail? The frigatebird can grasp the tail and pull the tropicbird towards it until can hold on to the tropicbird’s body with its beak.
Frigatebird grabbing a tropicbird to make it vomit up its recent catch of food.
There were about 5 frigatebirds chasing this poor tropicbird. The good(ish) news is that this type of food acquirement is relatively less frequent than gaining food by other means, but still, tropicbirds always have to be on the lookout!
Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus galapagoensis). Isn’t this owl incredible? It is somewhat uncommon to be out and about during the day, so we weren’t expecting to see one. And yet, it was one of the very first birds we saw on the first hike of our tour (Isla Plaza Sur). This one was sitting patiently, looking a bit annoyed at us. We noticed a bunch of bird wings nearby and figured it was digesting a nice, big breakfast. It is known to grab petrels (another type of bird) and only eat the bodies, discarding the wings. It is common to find bird wings on the ground, placed perfectly, as though the bird’s body simply disappeared and left the wings behind.
More photos to come soon!
And again, all photography here is by the talented Athene Blakeman.