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Epic World
  • Eric Schaefer

Epic World

Un’avventura di 125 giorni di Eric Leggi altro
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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Chacras de Coria

    27 aprile 2016, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    We spent 3 days in Mendoza. Actually we were staying in Chacras de Coria outside of Mendoza of city. When I made the booking I thought it was part of Mendoza city but I have learned that most suburbs are their own town. Mendoza is not exactly what we expected. We had heard all about the wineries and had anticipated something similar to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We were quite wrong. It was a big city. The wineries were pretty far from the city center. We stayed at Acequais Bed and Breakfast. The place had a lot of potential but a lot of little things could have improved our stay. Chacras de Coria ended up being a cute little town with lots of quaint little restaurants to choose from. We wandered through it many time during our stay. The nice part about this town was the proximity to wineries. The draw back was we were far from the city centre and bus terminal.

    The first day we ventured into Mendoza city. It was almost an hour ride by local bus which only cost $0.70 CAD! We spent most of the day exploring St. Martins Park. The city didn’t really hold our attention otherwise.

    The 2nd day was our favourite. We were able to get one free bike from our hostel and rented a second. There were about 7 wineries within 7 km of our hostel. We spent the day visiting 3 wineries; Alta Vista, Lagrande, Carmello Patti. Of the 3, our favourite was Carmello Patti. They offered a free tasting and we were greeted by Carmello Patti himself. He was charming character and gave a delightful talk in Spanish which I understood very little but was still impressed. We liked it so much we came back later in the day to buy a bottle. Too bad we can’t take a case with us. The weather was really nice today and got up to 17 degrees. We had been expecting warmer temperatures in the mid-twenties but experienced below average temperatures around 10 degrees.

    With the low temperatures, we opted to visit a thermal spa on our last day. Getting to the thermal spa was quite a challenge. It involved confusing directions, 2 local buses and some walking. We were also unlucky and had a bus breakdown which added an hour to our travel time. In the end the thermal spa was nice. I especially enjoyed the water slide. We capped of the day with a delicious dinner at El Mercadito in town. It was an amazing deal, a bottle wine, 2 mains and dessert for about $50 CAD.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Valparaiso

    30 aprile 2016, Cile ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We caught an early taxi to the bus station with an American girl that was working at the hostel. We have run into a lot of hostel workers that fund their trips by working at hostels along the way. She had given us some good suggestions while in Mendoza. We opted for bus instead of flying for 2 reasons. One the route takes you through the Andes and gives you amazing views. Two it was a lot cheaper. The drive lived up to the expectations. Once you pass through the border the bus drives down this crazy road that snakes back and forth down the mountain. Over 20 switchbacks. As per usual there are no guard rails so you are right on the edge.

    We arrived in Valapairso and right from the get go we both loved the city. Valparaiso is a hillside city located on the coast of Chile. When they ran out of flat spots near the shore they built the city up into the hills. It used to be a really rich city that was a midway point for travellers on the way to California but opening of the Panama Canal led to its downfall. Roads snake and wind throughout the different parts of the city. You can easily get lost. Since it is on a hillside there is tons of walking up and down steep hills. What really sets this city apart is its colourful graffiti. The city has embraced street art and giant murals. There is a lot of graffiti but a lot of beautiful art as well.

    During our stay we did 3 separate city tours. Each one took us to a similar part of the city but each time we explored different alleyways and routes so it didn’t feel like there was any overlap. One tour was specific to the graffiti which tried to explore the origins and highlight impressive murals. It has been interesting how all of the tours we have done in South America have tied in a political aspect where they try to give us some history on the most recent dictatorship.

    Our stay was too short in Valparaiso but we had a flight the following night so unfortunately we had to leave and add it to our list of places to return to.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Santiago, Chile

    3 maggio 2016, Cile ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We woke up early this morning to join a 10am walking tour ‘Off the beaten track Santiago’ offered by Tour4Tips. This was a wonderful tour that took us through all the markets, the old historic sector of the city and Cementerio General de Santiago. In the market we bought a kilo of fresh strawberries for $2 and received a sample of a delicious deep fried pumpkin treat. To cap of the walk off our guide gave us a glass of the infamous Terremotto ‘Earthquake’ drink which is made of cheap wine, grenadine and pineapple ice cream. Boy was it sweet! Why is it call the Earthquake….because when you stand up after drinking it you feel the earth shake.

    After the tour we made our way to the San Cristobal Park to see the Virgin Mary which lays at the top of the park on a hill overlooking the city. This was ~2 hour return hike up a meandering trail through forested areas which gave us panoramic views of the city from top. Afterwards we headed to a 2nd park called Santa Lucia which was noted in our guide book to be known for its beauty. It is actually the grounds of an old fortress and was very interesting to explore. We also found out this is the ‘make-out’ park as there were many couples rolling around in the grass completely oblivious to everyone walking around. What a great day in Santiago! It exceeded our expectations, if only we could stay a bit longer. The next few hours were spent wandering through a neighborhood called Bellavista which is considered a really ‘hip’ area and is where students hang out as there are 2 universities nearby. We picked a local bar to drink some cheap beer on a patio and have a bite to eat as we spent our last pesos.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Christchurch

    5 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After a night flight we have finally arrived in Christchurch. First stop, Wendekriesen to pick up our sweet new ride. Say hello to our awesome CAMPERVAN! Going to have to think of a name for her. Learning to drive on the left side has been a challenge. To add to the difficulty, we are driving a manual. Thankfully the pedals are in the same position as back home. The shifter is on the opposite side which hasn’t been much of problem. My biggest challenge has been signaling. Half the time I go to turn on my signal I end up turning on the windshield wipers. This will take some getting used to.

    We decided to keep things easy and pay for the first nights’ accommodations and stayed at our first campervan holiday park. The amenities were great and it was only an hour walk to the city center. We received a warm reception as we left the park by a man walking down the street all business on top but completely naked from the waist down...quite the Kiwi welcome :)

    Christchurch was a pleasant town. We stocked up on supplies and wandered the parks. You could still see the effect of the earthquakes. The town was full of construction and rebuilding.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Christchurch

    6 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Wow, what at a day! Our first real taste of New Zealand. We were both up early with the time change. I was out of bed at 4am and went to the comfort station to write in my blog. They had really nice facilities that included a large kitchen/lounge with paid wifi. The morning was spent organizing the van and picking up a few more items at the store.

    We decided to head out of Christchurch today and start exploring. We had found a local hike in the Port Hills and were planning on heading on to Akaroa afterward for the night. On the way there we stopped in New Brighton. New Brighton is a suburb of Christchurch (I think) right on the coast. It has a long beach coast line and a pier the juts out that we did a quick walk on. They also had a really cool library right on the waterfront with great views of the ocean. Such a good idea!

    After a quick, stop we continued on to Taylors Mistake for a short 3 hour hike. We had our first taste of the windy narrow roads in New Zealand. We drove up and down some crazy switchbacks. I am starting to get used to driving on the left side but it was a little nerve racking at points! The trail was a beautiful walk that followed the coast past old military sites. The scenery was beautiful with epic sweeping coast lines, cliffs and grassy hills. The area leading up to the hike was dotted with cute colourful cottages by the water and nice houses up in the hills among the trees. We got great views of the harbour and ships passing by. It was a really nice easy walking loop.

    On return we hopped back in the car and set out to Akaroa. We had plotted the most direct route that was supposed to take us over the mountain but we came upon road closure after road closure. It turns out the summit pass has been closed since the earthquakes. This pass goes along a volcanic crater and it supposed to provide wondrous views. We eventually had to drive back towards town and take the long way around. This way took us through a really long tunnel and past a quaint port town called Lyttleton. The drive was amazing. It was winding and colourful and followed the coast. I wish I was driving a little sports car with all the curves. The speed limits were all over the place from 30Km/hr to 100km/hr but on average we only could do about 50km/hr. The van really struggles to get up above 90km/hr. I basically slowed down to let everyone pass me because I couldn’t accelerate fast enough out of turns. 2hrs later we arrived at our destination.

    In New Zealand they have what is call freedom camping which is a designated parking spot that you park at for free overnight. You have to be careful though you can get a big ticket if you park in a place that isn’t a freedom spot. We found a popular spot and to our surprise it filled up shortly after we arrived. If you’re lucky there is a public washroom in the vicinity which there was. I really don’t want to use the portable toilet that came with the van. We did a short walk through town passing by nice restaurants and shops. It is a really cozy town that gets a lot of tourists for dolphin watching. They have Hector dolphins which are miniature dolphins found only in New Zealand. The sun had set by 6pm so we headed back and cooked our first meal in the campervan. The van is really starting to feel homey.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Akaroa

    7 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Up early again, we made a nice breakfast of yogurt and granola and waited for the tourist office to open. The plan for the day was to do some local hikes. Akaroa is located on a peninsula surrounded by mountains. We were able to connect a few trails and turn the day into 6+ hours of hiking. The route actually was quite challenging for the first hour. Our goal was to summit one of the surrounding mountains. The road leading out of town slowly got steeper and steeper. We passed the point where the road was too steep for cars and continued on up the mountain. The trail changed from road to gravel to grassy pastures as we climbed 800 meters. The last 100 meters we climbed through dense shrubbery and thistle with lots of sharp plants grabbing at us. We reached the top in 2 hours to behold views of the town, harbour and surrounding mountains. In the opposite direction we saw the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The trail followed the mountain spine and slowly swung and wound itself around the mountains and back down to town. We did a quick detour to a small waterfall on the way down. It was a very warm day and felt great to cool down under the falls. We treated ourselves to some delicious fudge freshly made in town after a hard day of hiking.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Lake Tekapo

    8 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After 4 hours of driving and a quick stop in Timaru for lunch we made it to Lake Tekapo. Lake Tekapo is a beautiful turquois lake situated beside Mt John. We did an easy 3 hour walk that took us up Mt John. Mt John is known for its astronomy observatories. This area is specially classified as a dark sky reserve due to minimal light pollution. They do special night tours here to look at the stars. A bit too expensive for us we headed to our campsite to look at stars from our lawn chairs. The conditions were perfect. Clear sky with no moon. It was amazing to look up at the sky. So many twinkling stars, more than I have ever seen before. I wish we could have gotten a photo or video but nothing I took turned out.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Mt Cook

    9 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Just after sunrise we left our campsite and headed to Mt Cook. On the way we stopped at Lake Pukaki for some photos. Another beautiful turquois lake. They actually do salmon farming here which is pretty interesting. The most expensive salmon in the country as I understand it. The weather unfortunately turned rainy and we ended up hiking to the Mount Cook view point in light rain. With the low cloud cover we didn’t even get to see the mountain. We retreated back to our campervan and slept the afternoon away. We awoke for a short evening hike before dinner. With a poor weather forecast we decided to pick up camp and skip the other hikes in the area and move on in the morning.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Omarau

    10 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    On route for Dunedin we decided to stop at Omarau and what a good idea it was. To start, we went to a candy factory and bought a kilo of chocolate followed by a visit to Whitestone cheese maker where we got some vintage blue. Not much better way to start a visit. The town itself was great! It is a quirky little town that has an odd obsession with steampunk (google it)….The old town consisted of some older Victorian styled buildings filled with steampunk attire, old books stores and souvenir, etc. It was a lot of fun wandering around. There was even a fun kid’s park that was also steampunk themed with a zip line and slide that we had a frolicking good time in after a flight of beer at a nearby brewery. To top it all off we saw PENGINS! Little blue penguins that waddled to shore just after sunset to their nests. Super adorable. We paid way too much for premium seats but most of it goes to preservations so we didn’t feel too guilty. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures so you will just have to believe us on the penguin sighting.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Dunedin

    11 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    A quick stop a the Moeraki Boulders on the way to Dunedin. These boulders are very unique with their spherical shape.

    Today we spent our time exploring Dunedin. This is known as a bustling town with lots of cafes, bars and restaurants to indulge in. We decided to start of the day at Cadbury World with a factory tour. They gave us lots of samples from the chocolate train, and we soon discovered New Zealanders especially like marshmallow covered chocolate. Some of their favorite chocolate bars are ‘Peppy Chew’, ‘Pineapple Lumps’ and ‘Baby Fish’. It was quite a tour for the senses as we got to eat, smell and watch chocolate being made as we were guided through the factory by our jovial guide Wylie. We even got to see a chocolate waterfall. It was reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

    Next, we headed to check out the railway station, walk through the university campus and follow a nature trail through the Botanical Gardens. The botanical gardens were vast, close to the size of High Park with a great trail system. The reward at the end of the day was a tasting flight of 6 beers at Speights brewery. They serve many award winning brews that were enjoyable and refreshing.

    There were no free campsite in Dunedin so we headed out of town and ended up at a questionable site in a port town just outside of Dunedin. We parked at the side of the road. Unfortunately there were no toilets which were much needed after drinking all that tasty beer!    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Tawanui

    12 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Up early and eager to get away from our sketchy campsite aka the side of a dark road, we headed out before light so we could get to the base of Mount Cargill for our hike. We arrived just before dawn and set out at sunrise. This was a nice 3 hour hike uphill. A well-groomed trail and varying vegetation. When we got to the top we learned you could just drive up, but where is the fun in that. After a few photos we ran into a New Zealander that informed us she had just bushwhacked, that’s right she used the term bushwhacked, a new tramp along the spine of the mountain and encouraged us to try it on the descent. Up for the challenge, we set out following her direction which took us down a short cut with a lot of scrambling down rocks. It was a lot of fun and had even better views than the top.

    Back at the car, we did a quick stop at Baldwin St., the steepest residential road in the world. We walked up and down it as there is no way the van would have made it. You really felt it in the calves. A quick stop at the grocery store for provisions and we headed on our way to Tawanui DOC campsite.

    On the way to the campsite we stopped at Tunnel Beach which was cool private beach. What was unique is that a tunnel was built to access the beach by John Cargill for his family in the 1870s.
    We also made a quick detour to “The Nugget” which I had low expectations of but turned out to be quite the impressive site. The nugget is a point of land that sticks out of New Zealand. There is a lighthouse located at the tip and it is picture perfect. The views were epic. High cliffs and steep drop offs with a narrow approach and roaring oceans below. There were a few rocky outcrops just off shore waiting to destroy ships. We caught it at dusk and stayed for a while to stare off into the ocean. What a backdrop, I hope the photos do it justice.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Catlin River

    13 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    The first couple pictures are from the Nugget Point yesterday.

    24km of hiking today. We did the Catlin River-Wisp track which started and ended right at our campsite. The first 12km were lush green forest that had a very jungle-esque feel. Green moss was growing everywhere. We crossed several wire suspension bridges as we followed the river. The hike started great with the sun shining and slowly turned grey and rainy. By the end of the first 12 km we got a little bored with the hike as it was just forest and no viewpoints. The return route followed an old forestry road so we sped up our pace. To our surprise the hike ended at a location that had recently been logged. Quite the barren contrast to the earlier lush forests.

    Back at the car, we continued our drive to Papatowai Campsite as the rain started again.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Invercargill

    14 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    A dreary forecast for the next few days. Rain, rain and more rain. The plan for the day was to drive to Invercargill and make a few stops along the way. Our anticipated highlight for the day was Cathedral Caves but we had to wait until low tide after 1:30pm to view the caves. To kill time, we did a couple short hikes near camp and set out on the road. Our next stop was McLean falls which was a quick 20 minute walk. It was fun to clamber around the falls. It would have be great place to cool off in the water on a hot day. We departed for the caves as low tide approached. It was a 30 minute walk down to the beach and toward the mouth of the caves. We walked along a beautiful empty beach that extended as far as the eye could see. The caves itself were large and had vaulted ceilings as that name suggests. As you approached the entrance you had to time the waves or you would get swamped. We saw one unlucky tourist get soaked up to the waist. The caves were about 50 feet deep and no light reach the back of the cave. As we wandered to the back we connected to another large cave that led back out to the ocean. We wandered around a bit and took some photos.

    Back on the road, we made a quick stop to check out a petrified forest and an old lighthouse. As drove on, the winds increased with gusts over 50km/hr. It made the driving a bit more challenging with the windage of the van as the gusts pushed us left and right. We finally made it to Invercargill and checked into our 2nd campervan park to charge up the van batteries and top up water. We were quite a distance outside of town so we didn’t do any exploring.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Te Anau

    15 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    It’s still raining. We packed up to drive to Te Anau. Te Anau is the jumping off point for Milford Sound. We stopped at the information office on arrival and the forecast was looking grim. The activities we planned appeared to be rained out and the forecast called for thundershowers and gale force winds for the next couple of days. We changed plans and decided to tentatively hike Key Summit if the weather permitted on the following day. As the rain continued, we headed up the road to our campsite for an early night. Hopefully the weather will clear and we can go kayaking and see the glow worm caves.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Cascade Creek, New Zealand

    16 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    The rain is unrelenting. All night long the campervan shook in the wind as the thunder cracked and the sky lit up with lightning. We heard there were winds clocked up to 150km/hr in the area. We watched, comfy and dry in our van, as someone set up their tent in the pouring rain for a wet night. The morning brought much of the same. Not sure what to do with ourselves, we braved the elements for a short 3 hour day hike up to Key Summit. We were covered head to toe in waterproof clothes and remained dry for the most part. The trail was a well-groomed gravel track that took us to the first hut on the Routeburn track, one of the New Zealand’s Great Walks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see anything with the low lying clouds. The walk became more exercise than anything else. After completing the hike, we headed on to Milford Sound for the night in hope of some good weather on the morrow. Milford Sound is supposed to be a spectacular place but in the current conditions you couldn’t see more than 50 feet. We settled in for another early night of TV and reading.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Milford Sound

    17 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Finally the rain has abated. We awoke to clear blue skies and booked a kayaking excursion for the day. The air was frigid and the idea of getting into a kayak was a little baffling. The tour operator provided all the gear which included thermal layers and splash coats. Once we geared up and set out the temperature was quite pleasant. Rebecca and I shared a tandem kayak. These are commonly known as divorce makers but our prior kayaking experience was helpful. The conditions were actually perfect, clear blue sky and no wind. The tour started off in an exciting fashion as dolphins came right into shore and started popping up and swimming beside the boats. This was great! The guide says he only sees dolphins about 5 times a year on tours and never this close. Next to our viewing delight was a friendly sea lion that swam by doing the backstroke. The tour continued on around the sound for 3 hours as our guide (Australian) highlighted interesting facts about the region. I learned Milford Sound isn’t actually a sound but a fjord. Sounds are carved by river and fjords are carved by glaciers. Milford Sound is a beautiful place surrounded by high mountains and deep water. There is so much rain fall here (250+ days year) that the top few meters of water is fresh water sitting on top of salt water. A surprising danger in these waters is actually tree falls. The trees and roots all tangle together in the thin soil available on the rock walls and certain conditions one tree fall can pull the whole wall of trees down. Luckily it is one of the fastest re-growing forests in the world. We also had a quick lunch stop on a beach and heard the Maori story about how the Sound was created.

    After the tour ended, we hightailed it out of there to try get back to Ta Anau in time for glow worm caves. Unfortunately the tour was full when we arrived so we will save the glow worms for the north island. With the forecast set for more rain we continued on and drove a couple more hours to Queenstown. On arrival in Queenstown, we headed to the information office which had just closed so our second stop was the number 1 tourist spot in Queenstown, Ferg Burger. This burger joint was busy every hour of the day we passed it and all the guide books say you have to eat there. This was also our first meal out in over a week and it lived up to expectations. I can’t remember all the toppings on my burger but it was fat and had beef and bacon and pineapple among them. It was soooo good. A good choice to end the day.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Queenstown

    18 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand. You can basically do anything that gets your blood pumping from bungee jumping to sky diving to jet boating, the list goes on. We decided to go with something a bit lower key and rented mountain bikes to explore the waterfront. It was a nice change from hiking. We followed a gravel trail around the lake and ended up at a golf course café for a beer break before turning around. We timed is perfectly as it poured rain the entire time we enjoyed our beer.

    After returning the bikes mid-afternoon, we wandered the streets and dropped into World Bar for another pint and some use of their Wi-Fi. It was a really great bar with a wood fireplace that helped warm us up. The campervan doesn’t have any heat at night so it can get pretty chilly. A warm fire is always nice.

    To finish off the night we treated ourselves to dinner at Pub on the Warf. I had some excellent Beef Wellington reminiscent of London 2 years ago.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    1

    Glenorchy

    19 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    What a long but great day. We ended up driving an hour to Glenorchy last night to camp at the base of our hike. Our kayaking guide had recommend the Rockburn track so we thought we would try a portion of it. We hadn’t studied the topo map very well and had anticipated the hike would take us above the tree line, we were wrong as the portion we did meandered through the wet muddy forest. We passed a pretty lake on the way and had to climb over a few fallen trees. We walked 2.5 hours before turning around at the first campsite. We hurried back as we had booked a Lord of the Rings horse ride for the afternoon.

    On arrival at Dart Stables, they gave us helmets and boots and assigned us to a horse. I was riding Bob and Rebecca, Eden, The ride lasted over 2 hours and we crossed many high river. Rebecca’s horse was smaller and the water came up to her knees on one crossing. The landscape was beautiful. We were situated in a long valley in which a large river ran through and ended in longest lake in New Zealand. The mountains surrounding had small snow-capped peaks and we saw one of the Misty Mountains from Lord of the rings. Interestingly, Peter Jackson CGI’d 3 different mountains together to create the Misty Mountains in the movies. The Lord of the Rings references were minimal but it didn’t matter with the beauty of the surrounding landscape. We even got the horses to trot a little. My horse was great. Rebecca’s was sneaky and kept eating grass when it shouldn’t.

    We hit the road after our ride and headed towards to Wanaka. We had planned some hiking around there but our DOC campsite was far to the north so we ended up only stopping in Wanaka to buy some chips and candy. We will have to head back there some day for the hikes. To get to our campsite we had to drive along a really bad gravel road for 30 minutes. Not fun, but the views were nice.    Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Franz Joseph Glacier

    20 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    An uneventful day. The weather was lousy again so we just drove all the way to Franz Joseph Glacier. We did a couple 30 minute scenic outlook side trails on the way. The drive did take us over some interesting steep and windy mountain passes. They really don’t like straight roads in New Zealand.Leggi altro

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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Alex Knob

    21 maggio 2016, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We found a great 2 day hike that we wanted to do but with the recent rain storms the trek was closed until tomorrow. After booking our hut for the following day, we opted to do the 18km Alex Knob Tramp. It was a great hike. The trail basically zig zagged up towards the summit of a mountain. Personally, I really enjoy the inclines, not a big fan of downhills. We climbed 1,200 meters to the summit. The vast majority of the hike was through thick rain forests. It was really cool. It reminded me of the opening scene of the Indiana Jones movie Raider of the Lost Arc as we ducked under vines and stepping over fallen logs. We didn’t reach the tree line till close to the top but the views were worth the wait. We walked along the spine of the mountain for a short section and the views opened to Franz Joseph Glacier below. You could see helicopters zooming in and out to take tourist in for a visit. We enjoyed a well-earned lunch at the top. On the way day we were passed by a group of French trail runners that ran the whole hike!

    We freedom camped that night in small gravel space on the side of the road situated in a valley between two mountains. If it wasn’t a full moon, the star sightings would have been spectacular. But the bright full moon felt more like a spot light shining down on us.    Leggi altro

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