Biped NZ

Note - this was written in April '09!

Which is after all why we are here...we have done so many walks, this place is an absolute paradise for walkers. The aforementioned Routeburn track is one of the many 'Great Walks' in NZ where you can go tramping** for 2-3 days and stay in basic shelters/huts. We did about 40% of this as a day walk from the Glenorchy side but started it later than we should have and ended up returning to Zinny with the way forward lit by one headtorch between us and thin strands of moonlight that could make their way through the thick forest. Though the return was a bit nerve wracking, it was well worth it. The scenery was absolutely stunning, snow topped mountains, fantastic waterfalls, beautiful beech forest with a sound-track provided by cheeky birds and aforementioned waterfalls, there are a couple of pics to try and demonstrate the beauty but we didn't have as much time for pics as we'd have liked. Thankfully it was a relatively easy walk compared to some we have done as the day before we tried to ascend Mount Alfred (near Glenorchy) which was ridiculously steep through damp forest and involved some bush bashing(!) and scree slipping above the tree line but progress was abruptly halted when it started to snow as we neared the ridge to the summit and with the snow came a bitter cold wind, no decent photos from the top of Alfred I'm afraid as we couldn't hang about, a great shame as the views of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains were stunning until the snow came in. Other walks that really stand out are a walk from Gillespie's beach which took in a long walk along a beach where we could see dolphins play in the water and I was lucky enough to see one dive fully out of the water! The path then took us via a small tannnin stained lake through some forest where we saw lots of relatively common birds but up really close, particularly cute were a pair of silvereyes preening each other. We then descended out of the forest and back down to the beach to a seal colony (where we saw the penguin mentioned in Twitching) where the seals were basking in the sun, see pics for more. We did a fantastic and challenging walk in Arthur's Pass too up to Avalanche creek with great views of the surrounding mountains and the river that runs through the pass. This was one of three walks that we have done that involve us ascending (and therefore descending) around 1000 metres in one day, as a result I think we are in the condition of our lives!! To aid us in these and future walks we have invested in walking poles and they have made a fantastic difference to the effort we are expending. Yep I sound like an old man (you could argue I am anyway!) but I don't care, poles rock!!

NB As this was written before we came back to the UK we've not got the pics from any of these walks with us so I've attached a couple from other walks