Queenstown, Wanaka, and Mt Cook
December 27, 2014 - January 1, 2015
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From Milford Sound, we drove to Queenstown, which is a great town
situated on a gorgeous lake (feels like Tahoe City), but also
super touristy and commercialized. Given it was between Christmas
and New Year's, there were literally no hotels or places to stay
available, and we wanted to get a break from camping... luckily
we were able to get a private room at a hostel after a bit of
searching. After we settled into the hotel, we hiked up to the
viewpoint above town, which is also served by a gondola. It was
pretty spectacular! We took a ton of photos and hiked back
down, getting our gear ready for climbing the next day. In the
morning we drove to Glenarchy and continued up the Dart Valley,
from where we hiked into Chinaman's Bluff. We were planning to do
a couple of climbs there, but there was one problem - the cliff
was north facing, which means all day sun, and it was 80 degF,
so as soon as you left the shade and stepped onto the rock,
you felt like a pancake in a frying pan. On top of that the rock
wasn't exactly what we expected, it was much worse than Dunedin,
so it didn't feel worth it to suffer in the heat. :) It didn't
take us long to decide we weren't spending any more days there,
we were already ready to move on...
After spending the night near the trailhead, we woke up and
drove to Wanaka - it is the smaller cousin of Queenstown, much
less touristy, but just as beautiful! We fell in love with it and
did some awesome climbing near there the next day. The next day,
we met and stayed with some friends of friends who have a huge farm at
Geordie Hill, about an hour from Wanaka. They also operate
a
flying business for pilots, which seems really cool! In the
morning we hitched a ride with Nev who was herding several
thousand sheep from one pasture to another - it was quite the
experience. Paige, the master dog herder, was truly impressive to
watch. Overall, this day at the farm was definitely one of the
highlights of New Zealand for us!
Next, we went to Mt Cook, where it was pouring rain and we
couldn't see the mountains at all. We celebrated New Year's eve
there, and woke up to a bluebird day, not a cloud in the sky!
We hiked up to Sealy Tarns enjoying the spectacular backdrop
of Mt Cook - and couldn't get enough of it!
We backtracked down to Wanaka again, to cross over the Haast Pass and head
up the west coast - but on the way there, we stopped by the Wanaka airport,
and rented a 172 for an hour to go up and see the area from the air. We
flew up to Mt Aspiring and the Rob Roy glacier, getting an absolutely
spectacular view!! Definitely another highlight of the trip. :-)
Next: West Coast
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Driving to Queenstown... |
Queenstown-bound! |
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Nellie's parking spot for the night at our hostel |
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Hiking up to the lookout above town |
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Beautiful view above Queenstown! |
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A restaurant with a view! |
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A restaurant with a view! |
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Driving into the Dart Valley, beautiful! |
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Jet boating is popular... |
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Hiking up to Chinaman's Bluff |
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Spider guarding the first pitch |
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View of the Dart river while we're climbing.. |
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Beautiful spot for dinner and camping |
Gorgeous lake! |
Driving up to The Remarkables ski area |
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Viewpoint halfway up the road |
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Queenstown airport and town |
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Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown |
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Can't take enough photos of Lake Wakatipu |
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Awesome dinner in Wanaka! |
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Sunscreen vending machine :) |
Rock climbing trailhead near Wanaka |
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Hotline, supposedly one of the best cracks in New Zealand (5.11b?) |
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Beautiful view from the climbing area near Wanaka |
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Staying at Geordie Hill for a night :) |
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Awesome morning at Geordie Hill, sheep herding :) |
Great view of most of the farm |
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Page showing us how it's done |
Lots of sheep and lambs! |
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The black sheep... |
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From one paddock to the next |
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Lunch on the way to Mt Cook |
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Waking up to this on the first day of 2015! |
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What a view... |
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Sealy tarns |
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Gorgeous view from Sealy tarns |
A gorgeous setting for Mt Cook |
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Going up in a rented 172 :) |
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Beautiful flight by Mt Aspiring |
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Getting shown around the area by Ash, awesome Wanaka instructor |
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