Easter Break

Over Easter Break, Luke, Dave, Laura, Hannah and I took the Wee Beast for an epic adventure around the South Island. We started in Dunedin, drove all the way to the northern tip of the Southern Island, headed down the west coast, and ended with a bang by doing the Rees-Dart Track. Here's a taste of what we experienced.


Day 1 (April 5th): Dunedin to Christchurch
We left Dunedin Thursday afternoon psyched for our big adventure. We had a little scare with our car, but the boys figured it out and before we knew it we were headed north. We had a beautiful sunset dinner and a late drive to our campsite.








Day 2 (April 6th): Christchurch to Picton

After spending the day at the harbor in Picton, we got real fruit ice cream but were devastated to realize that there are no liquor sales in New Zealand on Good Friday. We spent the afternoon skipping rocks at our campsite and hit the sack early to head to Nelson.

Day 3 (April 7th): Picton to Nelson
We spent a long day relaxing on the beach in Nelson. We played some soccer, took a three hour nap, then headed up to our campsite at the Cobb Reservoir where we had our first cold night with a heavy frost.

Day 4 (April 8th): Nelson to Farewell Split

After a couple days of laying low, we decided to head out on a few adventures in the Abel Tasman area. We started the day with a quick hike up to Rawhiti Caves and then headed to Whainui Falls for the afternoon. The cave was filled with stalactites and was an amazing start to the day. At Whainui Falls we went for a chilly swim and soaked up the last bit of sunshine that came through the valley. That night we had a blast  freedom camping on the beach near the northern tip of the south island.


Day 5 (April 9th): Farewell Split to Lake Paringa

That morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise on the northern most tip of the southern island. It was one of the best sunrises I have ever seen, and after we headed to a nearby town for breakfast at a cafe. Driving down the west coast was one of my favorite drives so far. We drove along the water for most of the day, and stopped at Pancake Rocks for a quick touristy pit-stop.  That night we went out for pizza and headed to our campsite at Lake Paringa. We set up our tents and when we woke up, we were lying in about 5 inches of water from the downpour that night. We woke up at around 5 am in search of a dry place to re-pack our stuff for our backpacking trip.

Day 6 (April 10th): Lake Paringa to Queenstown
We had a much needed rest day in Queenstown drying out all our gear and relaxing on the beach. We went out to lunch, got ice cream, and got to see a sneak-peek of Queenstown nightlife. We watched the sunset on the beach, climbed trees, and drank wine. We stayed in a hostel for the night so we were well-rested for our big trip the next day.

Rees-Dart Track

Day 7 (April 11th): Muddy Creek to Shelter Rock Hut (19 km, 6 hours)
On our first day, we hiked up the Rees Valley. The first 10 km had lots of river crossing and the valley floor was really swampy. It was a long day getting used to our heavy packs, but we were all so excited to be out that we barely noticed. Our first night in a DOC hut was a great experience. The hut had a main room with a coal burning stove, tables, and counter space to cook. The bunk rooms were very comfortable and had mattresses which made a huge difference for our backs. That night we started the tradition of nightly massage trains. We made burritos for dinner and chatted with some of the other backpackers staying in the hut. For the next four days we were on the same schedule as three other couples. It it was really fun getting to know some new people.

Day 8 (April 12th): Shelter Rock Hut to Dart Hut (9 km, 4.5 hours) 
The first part of our day we had a steady climb up along the Rees River towards the Rees Saddle. We spent about 2 hours on the saddle soaking in the views. We could see the Rees Valley we had hiked the day before and the Dart Glacier that we were headed for. It felt great to gain some elevation and see what Mt. Aspiring National Park really looked like. Once we got to Dart Hut, we cooked up some pizzadillas and pasta. Dart Hut was the biggest hut we stayed in and was filled with people from all over the world.

Day 9 (April 13th): Cascade Saddle (20 km, 7.5 hours)

Our hike up to Cascade Saddle was my favorite day in New Zealand so far. It was mostly flat to the Dart Glacier, then we had a steep hike up to the saddle. At the top it was the most beautiful view I have seen yet. The sky was mostly clear, and we had a great view of Mt. Aspiring. The wind was so strong we could barely stand up, and unfortunately I lost my hat. On the way down we stopped at the glacier, drank some glacial water, and touched the icebergs. We headed back to Dart Hut for the night, and had another epic massage train.

Day 10 (April 14th): Dart Hut to Daleys Hut (18 km, 6 hours) 

Hiking out of the Rees Valley was very different from what we had done earlier on our trip. For most of the day we were hiking through open meadows along the Dart River. We stopped for lunch at the rock bivy shelter tucked away in the woods. We had a very relaxing day, and realized that we were sad our trip was almost over. We encountered some amazing swing bridges, and when we got to Daleys Hut we went for a much needed swim. We had a great last night talking with the other backpackers and making brownie scramble.

Day 11 (April 15th): Daleys Hut to Chinaman's Bluff (16 km, 4 hours) 

We had an early start our last day. We hiked out the last part of the Dart Valley to the car park where our shuttle picked us up. We hiked along the Dart River for most of the day, and the water was incredibly blue. Once we got back to car park, our shuttle picked us up and we headed back to Queenstown for a quick Fergburger and Patagonia ice cream. We saw my roommate Allie from UVA who is studying abroad in Auckland for a short while, then headed back to Dunedin. This was definitely a trip for the record books!