FOMO!
Hey yall,
I'm new to the site and have been super appreciative of all the great resources and recommendations available. Thank you all so much!
I am planning a trip to the South Islad NZ from Dec 13- Jan 15 or so this year, the vast majority of which I plan to spend tramping. I am a strong hiker and have done loads of multi-day trips in alpine areas in the Rockies and Cascades of the US. My equipment is high quality and my backcountry safety and navigation skills are high (although I'm new to trekking in NZ). If dedicated, I can walk more than 35km a day on marked mountainous trails (though I prefer much slower). I'm planning on hitching as much as possible but I'm down to take buses if significantly more convenient (I've hitched through NZ quite a bit in the past with great success).
All that considered, I'm having a hard time narrowing down what trails I'd like to hike. I'm having some FOMO (fear of missing out). Below is my rough plan so far. I would love suggestions and feedback. Specifically: Is there anything that should be cut out. This plan is slightly too ambitious for only 4 weeks and I need to pare it down a bit especially considering that weather might slow me down. Is it worth the hassle and crowds of Routeburn and Kepler if I hike Five Passes and Cascade Saddle+Dart? Is Mueller Hut & Mt Cook essential considering the travel time to get there?
Thanks for your input!
THE PLAN:
Fly into Nelson to buy supplies and DOC hut pass, stay night in hostel
bus to Picton, ferry to Queen Charlotte Track
Queen Charlotte track (3.5 days)
hitch to Havelock, resupply, hitch to Pelorus Track
Pelorus Track & Richmond Range w/ Red Hills alternate (6 days)
hitch to St. Arnaud, meet friend with resupply, stay night in hostel on Xmas
Waiu Pass Track (6 days)
hitch to Hamner Springs, soak and relax for 2 nights in hostel
Bus to Christchurch then on to Mt Cook, stay night in Mt Cook Village
Mueller Hut (2 days/1 night)
hitch to Wanaka, resupply, stay night in hostel
hitch to Cascade Saddle
Cascade Saddle + Dart Track (3 days)
hitch to Queenstown, stay night in hostel, resupply, hitch to Routeburn shelter
Five Passes Circuit + Routeburn track (5-6 days)
Bus from Divide to Te Anau, resupply and stay night in hostel
Kepler track (3 days/2 nights)
Bus to Christchurch or Queenstown to fly home
27 comments
One thing I would highly recommend is getting a Tyvek groundsheet for your shelter and doubling it as a hitchhiking sign. You’ll be able to fold it different ways and can write new destinations on it with a permanent marker. When you get home you have a travel souvenir as well. Signs make a big difference when hitching.
I’m guessing this is redundant however I’ll mention it just in case...when hitching - make it easy. The amount of times I see people hitching when there is no suitable pullover space is astounding. You should always stand about 30-40 metres before a pullover area or wide shoulder when possible so cars can safely stop.
Finally, please ‘offer’ petrol money, it’s $2.25/litre and very few will accept but it builds good faith for future hitchers. If I’m hitching into town I always offer to buy the person a coffee or lunch as well.
2
11 metres or rain in the southern alps
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11779104
1
'11 metres or rain in the southern alps'
Someone should catch some of that in a big bucket and ship it across to Australia.
1
We already export to China. Or rather, the Chinese owners of the Chinese business do.
""Cloud Ocean Water has bought land for a second bottling plant across the road from a factory it is developing on the site of a former wool scour.
The China-owned company could be eyeing up billions more litres of water from beneath Christchurch to bottle and sell overseas as part of a major expansion of its operations in Belfast.
At least eight bores with permission to take drinking water are on or next to the new site.
If it gains consent to use them, it could have access to another 7.5 billion litres of the city's water – five times what it can already take – for export each year.
Cloud Ocean already has permission to take 1.57 billion litres annually from two bores at the old Kaputone wool scour site on Station Rd....
They do not have to pay for the water itself due to the Government's position that no one owns it, meaning it cannot be priced and companies can export it for negligible cost.
Aside from the cost of the Station Rd scour property and an adjacent old tannery, Cloud Ocean paid $2277 for its 1.57 billion litre annual water take.""
https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/s/n/u/g/d/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240x700.1tonqk.png/1549070318909.jpg
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/110325548/bottling-expansion-could-see-9-billion-litres-of-pristine-christchurch-water-sold-overseas
Considering what is happening outside my house at the moment there is a good chance that water would have gone to waste. Sewer replacement. Because the ground water is so high compared to how deep the pipe is they are pumping out the groundwater from 6 meters down. 2 pumps both filling a 100 mm pipe to capacity so probably 50l/sec each possible more just running down the street and back into the stormwater system. That is all drinkable water and the pumping will continue till xmas
Warratahs are poles marking the route. The star warratahs were used as fencing wire standards on farmland. The warratah is also a beautiful big red flower which is the state flower of New South Wales.
Our alpine country can get savage weather any time of year; if you are at Waiau Pass, make sure you have a good visibility window before attempting that sidle via Thompson Pass into the headwaters of the east branch of the Matakitaki River. This is challenging terrain. The safe alternative is to slog it out down the Waiau River flats.
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| Forum | Visiting New Zealand |
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| Started by | topher |
| On | 4 November 2019 |
| Replies | 26 |
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