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New Zealand

december 2024 - januari 2025
  • Mary Kieran Gap Year
En 31-dags äventyr från Mary Kieran Gap Year Läs mer
  • Mary Kieran Gap Year

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Backpacking, Strand, Camping, Bil, Par, Natur, Sightseeing, Semester, Vildmark
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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 352: Lake Tekapo and Ōhau

    27 december 2024, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Woke up frightened to the sounds of birds pecking away at our room which we assumed someone was knocking at the door at 6am. Because the room was a metal container, we could hear them on the roof walking around and building a nest.

    After morning coffee, we drove 2 hours north to Lake Tekapo. This is a small town right on a beautiful lake and is a lot like Banff in its tourist trapness (hateful Mary side comment). The glacier water is a color that we can't seem to get enough of. While in this area, we did a small 2 hour hike along the valley surrounding the lake called Lake Tekapo Peninsula Walkway. It took us through a long stretch of farmland, giving us beautiful views of the lake and plenty of sheep to harass.

    Lake Tekapo is a pretty expensive area, so we drove up the road to Lake Pukaki to stay at the Lake Poaka Campsite. The road passed famous Mt. Cook which stood tall at the end of the glacial lake.

    Lake Poaka is a massive campsite with a ton of options, so we picked a spot right next to the flowing water. We looked forward to falling asleep to the river’s flow.

    While setting up the tent, we had a few duck visitors. Mary thinks that they were originally domesticated at someone's house because of their friendliness. Kieran just assumed that they were used to being fed by the campers. They got very close and made cute faces; Kieran wouldn’t let us keep them.

    Before dinner, we drove up to Lake Ōhau to 4WD on some gravel road and get more views. Stopped by Twizel for a food truck extravaganza and went home to fall asleep to the sound of….Alice in Chains. Don’t get us wrong, we love music; we just wish the neighbors across the way would turn their music down.

    Campground: Lake Poaka Campground

    Spots:
    Lake Tekapo
    Twizel
    Lake Ōhau    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 353: Mount Cook Hike

    28 december 2024, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Hike day! We drove 50 minutes up to Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.

    Eyes were bigger than our leg strength as we attempted to tackle the Muller Hut track which was 6 miles total with 3500+ elevation gain. The trail is purely up and down so it would be lots of stairs. We start going and….its not going well. These were big stairs so we were practically lunging up a mountain. The elevation gain was also impacting oxygen flow and Kieran was not feeling good. We made it 1.25 miles up before calling it quits and electing to do a different hike. So in total achieved 2.5 of the 6 mile hike 😂

    Across from the Muller Hut hike is the Hooker Valley hike which is also 6 miles but moderate. Gobbled down our sandwiches and hiked up through Hoover Valley to the glacier lake at the bottom. The path crossed 3 bridges and followed the river from above its cliffs. Once at the lake, we could see mini ice burgs floating from the glacier. Mount Cook’s highest peak stood tall across the lake and made for a great picture. It was our first truly sunny day and 80 degrees out so we burned despite all the sunscreen.

    Following the hike, we drove up to a little town called Methven and stayed at a pub / hotel / coffee shop. Got some fish and chips and called it quits.

    Hotel: The Brown Pub

    Spots:
    Mount Cook
    Methven    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 354: Torlesse Tussocklands Park

    29 december 2024, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    100% sore from the 9 miles on Mount Cook yesterday. What’s the best remedy for muscle soreness? More hiking.

    Our next destination was a cool little hostel lodge deep into the Torlesse Tussocklands Park. On the way you have the opportunity to drive past Raikiki Gorge and steep mountain passes.

    Our first stop was Castle Hill and its weird limestone formations. Geology blurb: The area was once under a large, shallow sea that began to fill 30 million years ago. Pressure over time caused extensive uplift and faulting of the Torlesse and Craigieburn Ranges. Thrust up from their origin, the limestone rock was eroded by water into these formations, a karst landscape.

    This area also has special significance to the Maori tribe Ngāi Tahu and is managed by them. They once used these rocks for shelter, hunting, and herb gathering while passing through the mountains.

    Our second stop was a cave stream where visitors have the opportunity to walk through a cave from one end to the other while water flows through. We didn’t have proper gear, but you can still hike to the entry and exit. The whole trip takes an hour so other family members who didn’t want to traverse through the cave were relaxing at its exit.

    We finally arrive the Forest Lodge and it’s a really cool spot. It’s set up hostel style with 30 beds, but you can rent the whole cabin out. Margie, the care taker, is a beautiful soul who lives on the property for months at a time. When the cabin gets fully rented out, she’s able to go on hikes and explore the area. Luckily the cabin is booked for New Years so she was busy planning away at a huge trek with her girlfriend.

    We made hamburgers for dinner and relaxed in the lounge playing cribbage with a real board.

    Hostel: Forest Lodge

    Spots:
    Torlesse Tussocklands Park
    Castle Hill
    Cave Stream    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 355: Arthurs Pass Sadness

    30 december 2024, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Original plan was to do a 5-7 hour hike up into Arthur’s Pass, but the weather was not compliant. We drove into the National Park and found a cozy cafe to wait out the rain. We read and also played Hollow Knight.

    Sadly, it steadily poured from 10am to 6pm. We were able to sneak it a little hike at Devils Punchbowl Waterfall at 6 pm, but it was only an hour.

    We had also made plans to camp in Arthur’s Pass, but the campsite was very wet, next to the highway, and we realized we left our cooler at the Forest Lodge so no food.

    We found a hostel 2.5 hours away and made our way there, arriving at 10pm. The host was amazing and offered to cook us fish and chips. We declined, but he made us feel right at home. Our room was decorated with an excellent 90s comforter.

    Swipe to the end to see Kieran’s diva standard for sleeping.

    Hostel: Berlin Cafe and Hostel

    Restaurant: The Alpine Parrot Cafe

    Spots:
    Arthur’s Pass National Park
    Devils Punchbowl Waterfall    Läs mer

    Se översättning
  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand
    1He's so sad, he didn't find the wallet

    Day 356/357: New Years in Greymouth

    1 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    We woke up feeling rested from our trip up to Berlins Cafe. Unfortunately, the worst was to come. Kieran recognized that his wallet was missing yesterday in Arthur's Pass. We had assumed that we would be able to easily find it in the car somewhere. After a deep dive of the car and backpacks, we still couldn't find it. The amazing Berlin cafe host let us borrow his phone and we ordered an incredible English breakfast to thank him.

    Dec 31st was dedicated solely towards trying to find Kieran's wallet. We traveled back to Arthur's Pass (2.5 hours) to check at the cafe, but no luck. We checked the Arthurs Pass campsites, and no luck. We drove down to the Forest Lodge (50 minutes), no luck. We even contacted owners and hosts of all the businesses, still no luck. It was officially lost.

    Our original plan was to stay with some people in Westport. The search for the wallet resulted in 5 hours of extra driving, so we picked Greymouth as a better destination for NYE. We booked a last-minute hostel and checked in around 6pm. On our way there, we stopped at a small cafe for some food called the Otira Stagecoach Hostel. Their red wine and venison pie was incredible. It was definitely worth the stop to see the old memorabilia they had inside.

    Greymouth is a small, farming community, but Mary found a town NYE event happening that night. It was advertised as an event with drinks, food trucks, live music, and midnight fireworks. We set out in an effort to salvage a rough day.

    They had an awesome selection of food. We chose to get dumplings and Hungarian flatbread. The food was delicious, even if we put way too much chili oil on the dumplings. Later that night, we met Andre and Ned. They had both just moved to Greymouth from other towns and were excited for a fresh start. We ended up hanging out with them the whole night before calling it quits around 2:30am.

    Our internal clocks woke us right up at 8am on January 1st. In our slightly hungover states, we walked to the grocery store to stock up on food and snacks for the day. Kieran would argue that the ready-made pies in NZ are an excellent hangover cure. We even got a pre-made lasagna for a super easy dinner.

    The plan for the rest of the day was to relax and rest. After a short nap, we decided to hop on a FaceTime with our friends back home. James and Laura were throwing a NYE party, and with the timezones, it was still Dec 31st in Baltimore. We got to chat with a lot of the guests as they trickled into the party. After the call, we ate our lasagna and called it quits for the night.

    Hostel: Duke Hostel

    Restaurant: Otira Stagecoach

    Spots:
    Still Arthur’s Pass
    Greymouth    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 358: More Rain

    2 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    At this point, we hit our northernmost point of the south island, and it was time to head back to Queenstown. We drove towards the town of Franz Josef, right at the base of the Fox Glacier.

    We have struggled to time out our travel days against our hiking days against the weather. It rains a lot in NZ and it’s difficult to predict given the large valleys separating the island. We have noticed a pattern where we rest or travel and the sunny days, and accidentally plan hikes on the rainy days. Today would be no exception as the previous two days had perfect sunshine, and today was horribly wet.

    We got to Franz Josef and scoped out our camping spot. Our tent isn't the most waterproof, so we took a short walk into town to grab some food and drinks at the Snakebite Brewery before setting it up.

    It was still raining and Mary felt tired so we headed back to the car for a quick nap. Kieran used this time to replace his lost credit cards and drivers licenses.

    Around 6:30pm, the rain stopped so we set up the tent and squeezed in a hike before it starts again. We found the Callery Gorge hike within walking distance of the campervan park.

    The hike was pretty chill; great views of the gorge created by the glacial river, followed by a nice suspension bridge at the end. We ran into a friendly cat on the trail who loved being pet and eating grass (Hiking Cat)

    We finished off the day with some lackluster sandwiches at the campervan park (cold bread, mozzarella, and pesto). Chatted with friendly Germans (again) at the park there was one who was very familiar with The Wire, which is always a fun conversation when we say we are from Baltimore. The kitchen at the park also came with a kitty (Camping Cat) who received several pets.

    Camp: Orange Sheep Campervan Park

    Spots:
    Gallery Gorge    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 359: Franz Josef Glacier

    3 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    Amazing amazing hike day! The weather forecast wasn’t promising but we were blessed with perfect weather to hike 5.5 hours up to the Franz Josef Glacier on the Robert Point Trail (7.15 miles with 1755ft elevation gain).

    The hike is technically challenging because you cross waterfalls and then scramble up wet exposed rocks; hiking boots and feet placement were key. After intense elevation gain, you come down a small hill and are greeted with the glacier hanging over the mountain edge. The cliffs were super sheer and long waterfalls flowed down them. While chowing down on sandwhiches, keas flew around us squawking.

    While most return journeys are quicker, we had to take our time coming down; a few slips and slides on the rocks. Luckily no one got hurt or twisted an ankle.

    The drive to our next accommodation winded through diverse landscapes with valleys, flat ocean cliffs, and another mountain pass (Haast). We treated ourself’s to a little triangle house accommodation and gobbled up ramen, hot chocolate, and wine.

    Hotel: Makarora Wonderland Lodge

    Spots:
    Franz Josef Glacier
    Robert’s Point Hike
    Bruce Bay
    Haast Pass    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 360: Beekeepers for a Day

    4 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Well we confused our days again and ends up we are leaving the South Island on January 6th instead of the 7th which means one less day for activities.

    We shifted plans and hit a short hike to the Blue Pools, a blue glacial river where you can jump in and swim. We visited the town of Wanaka next and enjoyed incredible brisket and pork belly sandwiches.

    Now when we first left Queenstown, we stopped by a cafe and honey distributor that offers bee tours; Kieran really wanted to do the tour so we signed up for the 3pm session and drove back to Queenstown. They walk you through substantial bee facts while teaching you how the collect the honey. We got to extract our own honey and take it home! Pure New Zealand honey. Next, we suited up to visit the hives and got to hold the slats while bees worked on their combs, honey, and children.

    Here are our favorite bee facts:
    1. To make a queen, bees take a baby larvae, put it in a cave, and feed the baby secretion from glands on there body

    2. The men bees (drones) don’t do shit and are useless. When the hive needs to get ready for winter, they stop feeding the men and then kick them out

    3. Bees love 8 mm of space; anything more and they go crazy. It’s called bee space.

    We have way more, but just go on Wikipedia.

    Tonight we were hosted by long time family friends Cath and John who met Kieran’s mom when she took two years off and hiked in New Zealand in her 30s. Their house is absolutely beautiful and sits on a lake across from Queenstown proper. We chatted about local politics and how they only go into Queenstown proper 3-4 times per year because it’s super touristy. Thank you Cath and John for your lovely hospitality ❤️

    Spots:
    Blue Pools
    Wanaka
    The Buzz Stop    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand

    Day 361: Hobbits in Isengard

    5 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Today was our last full day in the South Island. Mary planned a full day of LotR site seeing, so we packed away our leftover pizza and set. Our intended destination was a valley of the of Dart River, which was used for Isengard. Along the road, we picked up a hitchhiker named Tee. He was hiking the south island portion of the Te Araroa (The Long Pathway). The full hike is a 4 month, 3000km path that takes you from the northernmost point on the north island to the southernmost point on the south island. He was about 40 days in with 10 more to go. We took a quick detour to drop him off in Kinloch and stopped at an Isengard Lookout spot to enjoy the scenery.

    Next we drove up the Road of Paradise where they filmed Gandalf entering Isengard and the Wizards Veil and the hobbits reaching Lothlórien. We had to drive over fords with our 4WD rental vehicle; we stopped at one river because it was wayyy too deep and walked the remainder of the way. We grabbed a hitchhiker on the way back to Queenstown; a young British doctor who is working in New Zealand with her husband.

    We got back to Cath’s and John’s in time for an afternoon swim in the cold cold lake and kayaking. While Kieran had the kayak, a family of 5 ducks swam up to Mary and pleaded for food. After the swim, used Cath and John’s sauna and outdoor shower, which John designed and built himself. It was amazing and now we want an outdoor wooden shower!

    We made Cath and John dinner to thank them and enjoyed hot tea on their porch before crashing. We thank them again for their amazing hospitality. It was so much fun to discuss deep issues in the world while also reflecting on how privileged we are to enjoy it.

    Spots:
    Dart River Valley
    Glenorchy    Läs mer

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearResenärNew Zealand
    1

    Day 362/363: A Long Expected Party

    7 januari, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    We took January 6th easy since our flight left at 12:45pm. We dropped off our camping gear at the Salvation Army, returned the rental car, and flew up to Auckland. Stopped by a Chinese and Japanese store for some food goodies and relaxed the rest of the evening in preparation.

    While Mary loves Lord of the Rings, we have an even bigger fan to pick up from the airport: Doyle, Kieran’s roommate of 5 years!! He flew all the way from Baltimore to join us on our last bit of New Zealand. We pumped him with coffee and hit the road. Stopped at the Thirsty Weta for a pint 15 minutes from Waitomo Caves.

    Today’s activity to keep him awake through the jet lag was to go black water rafting which is to tube in a cave. "Waitomo" comes from the Māori words wai, water and tomo, hole or shaft. The local Māori people knew about the caves for a century before showing them to English colonists in 1884. The cave is known for its bioluminescent glow worms which are actually little fly larvae.

    We suited up and prepared our silliest faces for the pictures they would take throughout the journey. Activities included jumping backwards off water falls, climb through nooks, turning all the lights off to look at the worms, and floating in river streams. It was after the activity Doyle told us he hates really small spaces. We were provided a hot shower and tomato soup post journey and a group of British girls bought the photos and shared the link with us.

    We continued down the road to Te Kuiti, our hotel stay, and ventured to the only open restaurant in town. Hamburgers, wonton soup, and chicken sandwich for the win. We also found the only open bar in town and drank beer while the locals gambled and wondered what we were doing in their bar 🤣

    Hotel: Motel Kuiti

    Spots:
    Waitomo Caves
    Te Kuiti
    Auckland    Läs mer

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