Around-the-World with Drew & Erin: New Zealand

Join The Blogging Post as we head around-the-world with our friends Drew & Erin. They’ll be sending us regular dispatches and updates from around, across, and all over the globe. This is their third post from New Zealand…

Wonderful Wanaka and Beyond

After knocking out the Milford Track and its neighbor the Routeburn Track – which may have been even finer and more spectacular than Milford – Erin and I were pleased to have no definite plans. Since we had arrived in New Zealand, we had been on a bit of a schedule due to having had to book these popular tracks so far in advance. We´d also had a decent amount of “business” to take care of with buying a car and all that went with it. Now we were looking for something a little more spontaneous and relaxed. So, we set our sights on the small town of Wanaka as our base camp.

Wanaka is the shier sister town to Queenstown, New Zealand´s adventure capital. They are both premiere outdoor towns in the southwest that feature lakeside locations, mountains on all sides, and first-class adventures of all kinds at their doorsteps. The difference is that Queenstown is the larger, louder, and brasher destination compared to Wanaka´s smaller, quieter, and more chill personality. For our goals of being active in the outdoors during the day and taking it easy at night, Wanaka was perfect.

During our week in Wanaka, we had the opportunity to explore the area’s in-town and out-of-town offerings. We used its plentiful cyberspots to connect with family and friends via Skype and email, catch up on our personal business, take stock of our online finances (which miraculously seem to be holding up), and get up to speed on U.S. and world news. On a more exciting front, one day we hiked to the top of Mount Roy whose summit offered panoramic views over the town, Lake Wanaka, and west into Mount Aspiring National Park. Our most notable outdoor endeavor was an overnight trip into the national park. We hiked up the Matukituki Valley to the Mount Aspiring Hut. The Matukituki is your standard-issue, beautiful NZ valley – cows and sheep grazing on green grass on the wide, flat valley floor; clear blue streams meandering through the valley; big peaks lining the valley walls; glaciers and snowfields crowning the summits and shoulders of the peaks; and a quality backcountry hut making the area accessible and comfortable.

And when we got back to town, we rewarded ourselves with huge, tasty burgers at Star Burger and then kicked back and enjoyed a movie at the one-of-a-kind Cinema Paradiso, a local movie theater featuring couch and old-car seating along with drinks and freshly-baked cookies during intermission of the films. I’m telling you, Wanaka has it all. What a perfect spot for an active and enjoyable week in New Zealand. And we weren’t even there for ski season!

Upon our departure from Wanaka, we pointed our car in the direction of Mount Cook National Park, a half a day’s drive north. When we went past Mount Cook on our drive south a few weeks earlier, the mountains were socked in by clouds. Upon our return, however, they were in their full splendor – sharp peaks and collossal glaciers rising majestically over the flat eastern plains. Erin and I explored the area by doing day hikes to the Hooker and Tasman Glaciers. But the real show-stopper was an overnight trip to Mueller Hut. This backcountry hut sits on a high ridge directly across from Mount Sefton and the active glaciers that splay down its east face. It also offers a clear view across to Mount Cook, the highest peak in the country. It stands out as one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever spent a night in the mountains. The hut’s deck and nearby terrain offered the perfect vantage point for watching ice calve off the glaciers in the hanging valleys on the face of Mount Sefton.

We shared the hut with an engaging group of Kiwis and other travelers that gave the conversation an interesting local and international flair. We had the opportunity to chat with a Kiwi outdoor instructor and his four outdoor recreation students, the local hut ranger from Dunedin – our next destination, and other foreign backpackers from Germany and Israel. This two-day trip to Mueller Hut was my single favorite memory of the entire trip to New Zealand. It capped an incredible two weeks of freedom and exploration in a land of incredible scenery and friendly people.

Photo #1- The Matukituki Valley, Mount Aspiring National Park
Photo #2 – Funky seating in Cinema Paradiso
Photo #3 – Mount Sefton from Mueller Hut, Mount Cook National Park