Mt Taranaki the 2nd

Mount Taranaki, the lonely mountain. 5th of June, 2017. During my journey across the North Island in November, Marcell and I had stopped here and tried to climb the volcano but had had to turn around about 500 meters of altitude below the top due to the adverse weather conditions and too much snow. But now, almost three months later the harsh New Zealand sun had done its job and had molten away most of the snow. So while I was on my way back to the South Island to meet my parents for the first time in over half a year, I decided to stop at the Mt Taranaki Visitor Centre and take another try to conquer the mountain.

What a beautiful day to climb a volcano, clear blue sky and tepid temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius. 

The track leading up to the summit starts as a very wide and almost flat road that soon turns into a narrow and very steep path.

View down onto the endless plains surrounding Mt. Taranaki and the Pacific Ocean on the left hand side (the blue line underneath the clouds) from the first view-point along the track.

A transmitter mast on the way up.

The typical New Zealand tussock grass

After about one-and-a-half hours of hiking I reached the Tahurangi Lodge which is about half way up the mountain.

From here on the path to the summit gets steeper and steeper.

View from the Tahurangi Lodge down onto the transmitter mast and the plains surrounding the lonely mountain.

View up to the summit of the mountain from the Tahurangi Lodge.

A wooden staircase is leading adventurers over vast and incredibly steep fields of small rocks and gravel. In the background you can still see the lodge and the transmitter mast.

This was the point where Marcell and I had to turn around last November. The path was completely blocked with ice and snow and there was absolutely no way to go any further. Fortunately it looked a wee bit different this time of the year.

After another two hours of climbing I finally reached the summit! So here are some impressions from  the top of the mountain, that constantly tried to conceal itself in fog and clouds. 

View down from the crater onto the surrounding plains.

There was still surprisingly much ice and snow in the crater.

Red rocks and fog coming out of nowhere created a mystical atmosphere in the crater. 

After eating some snacks it was time to leave the summit behind and get on the way down the mountain. 

Mount Taranaki, it was an honor! 

Tomahawk and St. Kilda

Some impressions from a short trip to Tomahawk Beach and St. Kilda.

 The path to Tomahawk Beach

 View onto the beach from the dunes

 A nice little inlet between Tomahawk Beach and the beginning of the Otago Peninsula. 

 View onto St. Kilda Beach and the city of Dunedin

Queen Charlotte Track

On Sunday 27. March Sylvain, Mael, Isilde, Amelie and I left Dunedin in the early morning hours and embarked on our road-trip to Picton to do the legendary Queen Charlotte Track. The drive itself was with about 9 hours of driving one of the longest I´ve done here in New Zealand so far. But State Highway 1, the main road north, is most certainly one of the most beautiful roads in this country.

State Highway Number 1 between Kaikoura and Picton.

We arrived in Picton at around 7 pm and set up our tents at a DOC campsite. The next morning we got up early and made our way to Picton Harbor to take the water-taxi to Shipcove, the starting point of the Queen Charlotte Track.

Picton Harbor

View of the Queen Charlotte Sound from the water-taxi. This is basically the same way as the Interislander ferry takes.

The 71 km long Queen Charlotte track leads through lush rain-forest for most of the time.

View onto the Queen Charlotte Sound from a viewpoint on the track. 

The track leads along countless beautiful sidearms, inlets and bays of the main sound.

Eatwell-lookout: probably the most astonishing lookout point of the whole track! Absolutely staggering view onto the Queen Charlotte Sound.

Morning-atmosphere in the woods along the track on day 2.

After we climbed up to around 400 meters of altitude we escaped the morning-mist that had invaded the sounds in the early morning hours.

The mist soon vanished and left us with some awesome views.

Our constant companions along the way: the weka birds. The weka is a large, brown flightless bird that has a famously feisty and curious personality. These two qualities apparently made the bird an easy food source for Māori and early European settlers.

The last remnants of the morning mist on an otherwise perfectly beautiful day.

While the track sometimes leads along the mountain ridge with staggering views onto the sound, it also has long sections along the coastline directly down at the waterfront.

Crossing a farmer´s land and encountering some of New Zealand´s most famous animals: 

Time to take a short break and have some snacks to invigorate ourselves at this marvelous lookout-point.

Mushrooms along the way

After three days of hiking with an average of 25 km a day I can say that the track was a great success and definitely one of the tracks with the most beautiful lookout points. Most certainly worth a visit!

A big thank you for the amazing pictures to my dear friend and former flatmate Sylvain Letailleur!