Let me explain: I have so much to say about this awesome country, that I put it into a whole lot of different articles instead of (understandably) losing you somewhere in what could resemble more of a book than a blog post.
This one should be fairly self-explanatory. Then there's another one about the Tongariro Alpenüberquerung Alpine Crossing, because it was probably the biggest adventure of my life so far. And the other two are about what's left: the road trip, the museums, cities and villages, little and big adventures that aren't hikes.
And also, please keep in mind that there’s probably no bad hike to do in this country, as the everchanging landscapes are gorgeous everywhere and wherever you look. These are the one’s I have done, and I would 100% recommend all of them, but don’t be sad if you can’t do one or any of them, as there is so much more to see and do.
HOOKER VALLEY TRACK / MOUNT COOK NATIONAL PARK
This was the first hike we did - if you can call it that. It’s about an hour one way, pretty flat, easy to walk along wooden and gravel pathways. But it was still one of my favorite hikes ever.
I was still jetlagged and exhausted, but the view of the mountains energized me. I breathed in the crisp morning air as we started the trail. There were big mountains all around, most had glaciers on them. The flat and easy path was perfect for my wrecked condition.
Soon we got to the first bridge.
Swing bridges freak me out, but there was no way around it, and I was not going to turn back just because of another completely irrational fear. So, i made it over that bridge, and a couple more - some of them being easy in me, others swinging so bad I could barely keep my thoughts together and just wobbled over it like a zombie.
We were doing the walk fairly early, so there wasn’t too many other people around, and those that were were of similar mindsets as we did, meaning: No talking, a lot of looking and enjoying the surroundings.
We rounded a corner, and there it was - Mt. Cook, or Aoraki, as the Maori call it, the highest mountain in the country. It was majestic, and we had a clear view of it. As much as I wanted to stay right here and take it in for the full day, we had to keep walking at one point, straight towards Aoraki.
I’m pretty sure I had a stupid grin on my face all the way. This walk was one of the things I looked forward to the most. I have seen all of the pictures, but nothing could have prepared me for the view that awaited me at the end of the track. Aoraki was still straight in front of us, just a little bit closer now.
At the bottom of a mountain, a huge glacier seemed to float on the water of the glacial lake, and so did a whole lot of icebergs. Big and small, black and dirty or clean and deep blue, far out or sitting on the shore. I have never ever seen anything that comes even close to that before.
If it hadn’t already happened before, this was the point where I left all of my worries, troubles, and have-to-do’s behind, and tuned into the moment. I savored every second of it. If it were possible to put this moment into a snow globe and take it with me wherever I go, I would have. Instead, it felt like I took out a piece of my heart, carefully put it down on the water front, and in return put this moment and this view and these feelings straight into my heart.
BEN LOMOND SADDLE / PEAK / QUEENSTOWN
We decided we’d take it easy one last time and let the cable car take us a good chunk of the way up. Starting at the upper cable car station, there was a whole bunch of mountain bikers going down crazy steep hills at neckbreaking speed. We made our way around them (after watching for a good while, of course), and away from all the people, and instantly were greeted by epic views of the valley and the mountains around it. It was the perfect weather for a hike, and we were buzzing with energy. We had no idea how far we would like to go, no expectations whatsoever, so we just started walking into a direction that seemed right. It was a really nice walk, pretty much empty, some bits flat and others steep.
We made the rookie mistake of not bringing enough water, so we turned around at Ben Lomond Saddle instead of continuing on to the peak, but I’ve heard the last bit is really worth it, as you get a 360° view from the top.
The bit we did was still very much worth it. If you’re not that big of a hiker, perhaps you might want to try taking the cable car up and then walk in the direction of Ben Lomond Saddle for about 10-15 minutes to get views almost as awesome as we had them from farther up.
ROY’S PEAK / WANAKA
I don’t know how I managed to talk Lucie into this, but I did! And we’re both glad I did, at least I truly hope so. We would be hiking Roy’s Peak for sunrise.
We knew it was a big thing for us to take on, but we decided to go ahead and hike Roy’s Peak for sunrise. After a 2.30 am wakeup call, we drove a couple of minutes and started the hike off pretty steep. A few minutes into the hike, my head torch died.
It was pitch black. I looked up into the night sky, and couldn’t stop staring. The amount of stars that you could see from right there was absolutely incredible. Lucie caught up to me and interrupted my thinking. I now had someone to light my way! We kept walking, up and up and up and up.
The trail itself was pretty wide and easy, but fairly steep, so that’s what made it difficult. In total, we would have to climb around 1300 meters in elevation. Some people may find it boring to just keep walking constantly uphill in the dark. For me, I find it quite meditative. There’s nothing to do except put one foot in front of the other, slowly but steadily, and have a bite of chocolate every now and then to keep me fueled.
After a while, the sun started to light up the horizon. I was able to see pretty good without a torch, so I decided to keep my momentum going and go ahead, leaving my friend to keep going at her own speed, which was only slightly slower than mine.
Soon I got to a point where the trail would wrap to the back of the mountain and apparently go back down, which seemed very off. I could see some lights halfway up a ridge, so I thought this must be why this trail is classified as „hard“ and started scrambling up. At first I tried using the flash light on my phone, but I needed both hands to hold on to the rocks. I was about half way when I didn’t know how to go forward but neither how to go back down. I stood there, desperate, contemplating what to do, when a young couple passed me, and right behind them was Lucie. Together, we made it all the way up to the peak.
We were so damn focussed on climbing up the ridge that we didn’t realize how gorgeous everything was: the sun was just rising, the sky was lit in the brightest yellows, oranges and reds that merged into the pitch black of the night sky that was filled with stars. All around us were mountains and lakes and rivers, lit by the beautiful morning light. There must have been 50 people sitting up there, but it was quiet, everyone was simply mesmerized by what we saw. It was absolutely epic.
Once we decided to go back down, we realized that we didn’t have to climb the ridge. The path that turned and went back down was just going down for a second before going right back up and getting you safely and easily to the peak. Don’t make the same mistake we did.
The way down was long and strenuous, I’m not going to go into any detail. You know, this is one of the hikes that in itself really isn’t that special, actually it’s probably really not that good of a hike. But the experience of doing it in the middle of the night to watch the sunrise is purely magical.
ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK
There is this multi day trek here that’s called the Abel Tasman Coast Track, and sadly we didn’t have the time to do the whole thing. But we decided to do as much of it as we possibly could within a day.
We started the drive to Marahau early, booked our spots on a taxi boat, and set off to Bark Bay. I had no idea what would await me with this taxi boat thing, but it exceeded all my expectations. It was the bumpiest, most adventurous boat ride I have ever been on, the captain spoke to us in classic kiwi = sarcastic fashion, pointed out seals and the split apple rock - when he stopped for a second and not went all-out against the waves it made us jump in our seats.
To get off the boat we had to take off our hiking boots, but luckily there was a place to rinse the sand off our feet. There’s nothing worse than having sand in your boots at the beginning of a 25 km hike.
We set off into the thick forest, up and down hills, hearing nothing but our own footsteps and the sounds of all the different birds and insects. Every now and then, the crystal clear, carribean-like beaches came into view, before we crossed back into the forest and it started all over again.
We had perfect timing and could walk right across one of the beaches at low tide, shaving off about an hour of total walking time. There was little creeks of sea water, just shallow enough to not spill into our boots, and probably more shells than sand.
I might seem less emotional about this hike than the others, but I promise you, I am not. It was absolutely epic, every bit of it! It was kind of repetitive in the way we walked up and down hills in the forest and have views of the shore every now and again, but this is the best way of repetition there is.
Bonus: There’s so many awesome beaches, so if you start a little earlier you could even have a dip mid-hike! Or you can do as we did and do it in Marahau after the hike.
TONGARIRO ALPINE CROSSING / TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK
This is the one I have quite a few things to say about - you can read about it here.
CATHEDRAL COVE / COROMANDEL FOREST PARK
Well, granted this isn’t really a hike, it’s more like 30 minutes walking downhill to a beach and then back up. It did feel like a hike though, because when we were there, the path was actually closed.
The Austrian in me (we do like to follow rules) was like „Nah, let’s turn around“, but the adventurer in me thought when else will I have the chance to see the beach straight out of Narnia on the other side of the world from where I live?
We watched an elderly couple walk by the fence, and asked how it was, if they could get to the beach. The lady told me it’s doable, but we’d need to be careful.
That was it - before thinking again, I was on the other side of the fence. I felt like I did something super illegal, and I was kind of hyped about it.
We thought there must have been a minor catastrophe on the other side of the fence, but what was actually there, was a perfect tarmac walkway.
We had to climb over and around a few more fences, but all in all, it was in perfect condition. About halfway into the walk, we came across a fallen tree, wondered why they would close the trail just because of that, and just climbed over it. Another corner, and there was a whole bunch of trees lying on the track. We climbed over some, under some others, and immediately saw why the path was closed: A landslide had taken away the bridge. It was now 3 m below us and looked pretty destroyed.
Obviously, we weren’t the first ones to still walk down to the beach. There was a new pathway forming already, so we knew exactly where to put our feet as we scrambled around a big deep hole in the ground and both safely made it to the other side.
We could already see the beach from here, but right in front of it, another wooden fence. And right behind the fence, a 2-3 m vertical drop.
I don’t know about you, but I won’t give up this close to the finish line. We stood there for a good few minutes trying to figure out the best way to do it - would we go around and then drop? Nah, the fence is way too wobbly for us to use it as any form of support. Squeeze under? We’d barely fit. Climb over? Back to point one.
Just then, Lucie sat down on the dirt and crawled through the tiny opening in the fence, then let herself fall down. She grinned at me, so I threw my bag and Birkenstock’s down to the beach and followed right after.
We were pretty much alone, and honestly, this is one of my favorite memories and one of my places in all of New Zealand.
Sometimes, taking a good calculated risk might be the best thing you can do.
I feel like I have to say this: I do NOT recommend you do any illegal activities. If you see a fenced off path, you probably shouldn’t do what we did. Any risks you might take are completely your own, and I will not be responsible for anything that might happen.
MOUNT EDEN / AUCKLAND
There are a bunch of good hikes around the capital - there’s the islands that you can go to by ferry, a few volcanoes, urban hikes, beaches, mountains and hills in the surrounding area. I had half a day left in the city and felt like I needed to get away from all the concrete, so I searched on google maps what I could do, and Marawhau, Mount Eden, was the one I decided to go for.
I started at the marina, walked through all different parts of the city, right by my accommodation, over a highway bridge, through parks and rich areas and a hospital. As I walked, the sounds of the traffic got quieter and farther away, and I could finally see where I would be going: There was a big green hill right in front of me.
I followed the road all the way to the top, shared the view point with a bunch of other tourists and locals alike. It was pretty awesome, though. Having seen a few active volcanoes, seeing this dormant one, all the way overgrown and even having houses built on it, right in the middle of Auckland, was a very different experience.
From up there, I had a view all the way around. I could see down to the coast, to the marina where I came from, the highest buildings lining the view.
