Wellington – Ferry to the South Island- Queen Charlotte Drive – Nelson…
After leaving our nice climbing spot in Wharepapa we crossed the North Island rather quickly. From the Ferry port on the South Island (Picton) we drove on to Nelson, where one of Louies aunts lives with her family.
Rather unexpected we headed on towards Nelson National Park and St Arnaud the same day. In that small mountain town, Louies Aunt and familiy own a cottage which is a great base for exploring the park. After discussing a few options with Oncle Bruce, we decided to add another adventure to the day and headed off by foot into the Nelson Lake National Park the very same evening.
After a easy 3 hours walk through beautiful forest along the Rotoiti lake, we reached the DOC hut where we intended to stay for the night. Even though the hut was cramped with a rather large hiking group and the evening light illuminated the surrounding grassland and hills with a inviting golden colour, there was no way we would spend time outside. People who have visited New Zealands outdoors will know the reason. There are small, black, numerous and everywhere: Sandflies- the curse of the most splendid sceneries here.
After a surprisingly quiet night, some free breakfast and many good byes, we set off to Mount Robert on the other side of the lake. To avoid a 6 km extra loop, we crossed the wide grassy flat stretching from the hut to the other side of the valley. The only way to not getting eaten alive in this kind of surroundings is a good amount of insect repellent and constant moving; no matter if there are rivers to cross or obstacles to climb. In this time of the year the Travers River is low enough to be crossed. So we soon got our feet wet and cold when wading through the knee deep water.
Walking in wet shoes and socks is not as bad as you might think. Since we were walking constantly, we never really felt cold, even after the contact with the freezing river.
A few hours later we stood on top of Mount Roberts. The view over the lakes and hills was spectacular. The colour of the water truly impressed us. Also surprising is the rather alpine climate in a hight of “only” 1420 meters above sea level. The wind gets rougher and colder despite the sunny weather and the fauna looks very alike to the Swiss mountain plants.
The way down was rather steep but spoiled us with great views and another nice forest walk until we reached the main carpark. From here we got a ride back to St Arnaud, where we treated ourselves with a hot shower and some lazy time.
Too much lazy time as we were to find out soon. The same evening we continued our long journey to the south and crossed the majestic Lewis Pass. Tall mountains and wild forests soared on both sides of the curvy street.
Our dinner was very short tempered due to the massive amounts of the little black beasts trying to suck our blood and soon enough we sat in the car again and headed towards Christchurch.
That drive turned out to be much longer than we had thought. The DOC camp we wanted to stay on decided not to be where we expected it- it took us another extra hour to find it. At 00 pm we finally reached and approximately at 00.10 we sunk into our pillows and dreams.
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