Category: New Zealand

February 8, 2026

It rained overnight, but by morning it had quit. It was still very cloudy outside, but the forecast looked good with the weather clearing soon. Heinrich and I had splurged for a private room and bath for this trip (many of the others were in rooms with bunk beds and a shared bath), and it was very nice. It had a view, although this morning the view was of fog and clouds.

The morning routine was: wake up before the generators turned back on shortly before 6 am, then go to the dining room to prepare our lunches. Fixings to make sandwiches and wraps were laid out buffet style in the dining room area. There was also a selection of snacks to choose. Afterwards we had a buffet breakfast with hot food options: today we had scrambled eggs and bacon. Baked beans were available as well. Then we went back to our rooms, packed up and gathered outside the lodge to start the hike for the day. The group started hiking at 7:30, and it didn't take long for us to spread out on the trail, each of us choosing our own level of pace. The was always a guide at the front of the group and one at the rear.

Total hiking distance for today was about 10 miles, and it was mostly on flat terrain. The first part of the hike was in a beech forest and followed the Clinton River.

After about a mile we took a short detour on a boardwalk to view the Clinton wetlands and a small waterfall.

We returned to the main trail and continued to follow the Clinton River. By now the weather was mostly clear, revealing the beautiful mountain peaks around us. We saw many waterfalls along the way. The recent rain really helped the waterfalls!

We stopped for lunch at the Hirere Hut. The guides provided a selection of hot and cold drinks at the hut.

Continuing on the trail, the terrain was more open with grasslands and manuka trees. Waterfalls were everywhere. We took side trips to Hidden Lake and Prairie Lake. The waterfall at Prairie Lake was especially lovely.

We started a gradual climb. Some high mountains with snow on the top came into view, with wind blown waterfalls.

The final stretch of the hike for the day was a bit challenging, a steep uphill section traversing a wide dry river bed with large boulders that we had to navigate across. There was a guide at the top providing encouragement. Our end destination was Pompolona Lodge.

At the lodge a host greeted us and gave us our assigned room number. Cookies and a cold drink were provided. We checked into our room and then gathered with the others outside on the deck for beer and wine. A charcuterie board was provided before dinner. We heard calls from some kea birds, and I briefly saw one fly off of the roof into the forest.

We gathered in the dining room for dinner. I had the slowed cooked beef which I had selected on the sign up sheet the night before.

After dinner we had the usual presentation from the guides about the schedule for the next day, and we made our meal selections for the next night's dinner. Then we went back to our room to recharge the cell phones before the generators turned off at 10 pm.

February 7, 2026

Some background: a couple of years ago, Graham Meech asked me if I would be interested in going on the Milford Track hike. I didn't know much about it, but I liked the area, so I said, "sure!" Initially we were talking about doing the hike as independent walkers. But then Graham told me this hike was so popular that some luck was involved: only a limited number of hikers were allowed on the track each day: reservations for a spot would open up around Memorial Day weekend and usually they all sold out in about 10 minutes.

That did not sound very appealing to me since I wanted to have trip plans and other reservations made well before Memorial Day. A random internet search for more information about Milford Track led me to a website for Ultimate Hikes. This company allowed sign-ups for small group tours well in advance of Memorial Day, and they would take care of all meals and provide accommodations inside lodges instead of huts along the track. There were plenty of openings since this was not a cheap option. I talked it over with Graham, and he agreed this would be a good option. And then Heinrich came on board as well. So we made our travel plans, picked out a set of 4 days that would work for us, and signed up.

For more information, here are links to the Ultimate Hikes Milford Sound webpage and to an Ultimate Hikes PDF map of the track.

It rained overnight, and we woke up to find mostly gray sky. At one point the clouds parted and we saw a nice rainbow outside of our cabin.

I made a quick breakfast of blueberries and an apple, finishing our remaining perishable food. We checked out of the cabin and paid $15 NZD to rent a storage locker for our valuables that we did not want to leave in the car unattended for 4 days during our Milford Track hike. We also paid for parking to leave our car in the back lot at the holiday park: $25 NZD for up to a week.

We drove to the Ultimate Hikes meeting point at the Alpine Centre Cafe & Bar. We wanted to complete our early check-in before the rest of the group arrived from Queenstown. We found out that 5 people were getting on the bus at Te Anau (Graham, Heinrich, and myself plus 2 others) and 44 others would be arrving on the bus from Queenstown, giving a total of 49 hikers in our group.

We drove back to the holiday park to store our luggage and our car, and then Graham met us there to drive us back over to the Alpine Centre where he had paid to park his car.

Ultimate Hikes provided lunch for us at the cafe, and we got an early start eating before the rest of the group arrived from Queenstown.

We boarded the bus with our group and drove to the Te Anau Downs boat dock, where we got on the boat to take us across Lake Te Anau to Glade Wharf, the start of the Milford Track. The weather was completely overcast and spitting drops of rain off and on, but that didn't stop us from climbing up to the top deck to get the best views.

One of the highlights was passing the memorial grave for Quintin MacKinnon, the explorer who discovered the tourist route from Te Anau to Milford Sound that became the Milford Track. Many features in the area now are named after him. In 1892 he never returned from a lake crossing, and he was presumably drowned in Lake Te Anau.

We had quite a ride on the top deck, with only a few other people brave enough to face the weather. Most stayed in the covered cabin below. The following photos show our lovely views.

The boat also included some independent hikers not part of our tour -- the folks who were lucky enough to snag a spot on the track when the reservation window opened last May. They were first to depart the boat. The blue and white container shown on the deck in the next photo contained some disinfectant that we all were required to step in to clean the bottoms of our boots and hiking poles to avoid the introduction of nasty bacteria that could harm the area plant life.

Finally we were off the boat and ready to hike. First up was the token photo op at the start of the hike.

Then it was just a short 1-mile, 20-minute jaunt over to Glade House which was our lodging for the night.

At Glade House, a host checked us in and gave us our assigned rooms. We dropped our packs in the room and then gathered outside in front of the lodge for the official group photo.

Afterwards we had a 2 km, 1.5-hour nature walk up the Glade Burn. We were split into 3 groups, taking off into different directions since the walk was a loop hike. Before the start of the walk I took a quick photo of the swinging bridge across the Clinton River. We would be traversing it at the start of the hike tomorrow.

The nature walk was interesting with our guide Harry pointing out various plants and what they were used for, and naming some of the birds that we saw. One plant had edible leaves, and he passed around a leaf that we could sample. The leaf was very spicy in flavor, and the more I chewed the spicier it got.

The walk itself was more strenuous than the first mile of the track since it was a steady uphill climb and involved stepping over a lot of tree roots. We eventually reached the top where there was a view.

We climbed back down the trail and completed the loop near the swinging bridge. We walked across the bridge and admired views of Glade House and the Clinton River.

After the nature walk we had free time to settle into our rooms. The lodge had drying rooms and facilities where we could wash our clothes if needed. A separate drying room was for boots and rain jackets where the heat was less intense, to avoid damage to the materials.

The bar opened before dinner, and Heinrich, Graham and I enjoyed a glass of wine or beer. Dinner was a sit down affair in a large dining room and was a 3-course meal. That morning during check in we were each asked to select from three main menu items: I chose the salmon and Heinrich chose the venison. It was very good.

After dinner the entire group gathered in the lounge where the guides gave a presentation about the history of Glade House and the area. The guides introduced themselves (there were 4 guides for our group), and then everyone in the group took turns making introductions. We got to hear where we were all from and why we had decided to make this trip. The guides then gave us a briefing about what to expect on the trail tomorrow and the schedule for the day.

We returned to the room and made sure to charge our phones. The generators turned off promptly at 10 pm, so there was no power overnight. And with no wifi or cell phone reception, it pretty much guaranteed I would be getting a full night's sleep, which was a good thing!

February 6, 2026

It rained heavily overnight, and in the morning it was mostly cloudy but the rain had stopped. We checked out of the room early and managed to get past Queenstown before the traffic became bad. The traffic was steady but heavy all the way south. The road followed the shore of Lake Wakatipu. We stopped at the southern end of the lake and walked to wharf that was near a train station. We walked around a park that had nice views of lake.

We drove further south to the Fairlight Railway station. We could not access the building: the gate was shut across the driveways and a brand new fence was around the area. We read some information signs outside and took a few photos.

We drove the rest of the way to Lake Te Anau. By this time the weather was partly cloudy but there were some strong winds around the lake, which made it feel cold. We stopped to visit the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary. This spot was a favorite and our third visit. The sanctuary cares for the endangered Takahe flightless birds. We saw a group of 3 Takahe and another group of 4. The posted signs said there were 2 pairs, each with a yearling chick and another had hatched a few days ago, still in the nest.

At the sanctuary we met our friend Graham Meech, who will be joining us for the multi-day hike on the Milford Track. We watched the Takahe together.

It was now past 2 PM and time to check into our lodging at the Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park. Our room was a kitchen cabin with a king bed, 2 extra single beds, sheets and a comforter on top of each bed, but we had to make up the beds. No towels were provided. The shared bathroom was a short walking distance away, and the facility was very clean and nice. Wifi reception was acceptable near the bathroom but was terribly slow in the cabin. I could not keep a connection on my phone or on the computer. I had to give up uploading photos to my web log since the connection was way too slow. Further updates will have to wait.

We fixed dinner: eggs and potatoes again to finish our perishable food. I also had a sandwich with ham and a salad with mayonnaise and honey mustard dressing.

After dinner Graham joined me for a walk back out to the lake. We took the trail from the visitor center to the bird sanctuary and then walked down to a small wharf.

Back at the cabin I spent the evening packing for our upcoming multi-day hike on the Milford Track. Clouds rolled in, so there was no good sunset.

February 5, 2026

It rained most of the night, and we woke up to drizzle and overcast skies. We had about a 4-hour drive from Haast through Mount Aspiring National Park, to Queenstown, and then to Glenorchy. We had already driven the road from Haast to Queenstown twice before on our previous trips, so we focused on places we had not stopped before.

In the early morning we stopped briefly at Haast Beach to say goodbye to the West Coast. The weather conditions were not good, so we didn't stay long.

Inside Mount Aspiring National Park we stopped at the Pleasant Flat Recreation Area. We walked a short nature trail through the pretty forest. The weather was clearing slowly as we moved further away from the West Coast.

The road climbed up over Haast Pass, and the weather was now partly cloudy. Just outside of Mount Aspiring National Park we stopped at the Makarora Country Cafe and tried the venison meat pies for lunch. They were very good and another favorite.

Continuing on, we stopped at overlooks of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The small strip of land between the two lakes was called The Neck. We drove a side road to view a small waterfall at Neck Creek.

Next we stopped at the Roaring Meg Lookout which had a lovely view of the Kawarau River and its rapids. The water was a beautiful turquoise color. It reminded me a bit of Huka Falls on the North Island.

Nearby was the Kawarau Gorge suspension bridge. This was the birthplace of bungee jumping according to what I read in Google Maps. We walked across the bridge and watched several bungee jumpers.

It took us almost an hour to drive though Queenstown. The traffic was jammed for a few miles just outside of the town near Frankton. We were glad to get out of there. We tried to find a gas station that was convenient to get to, and there was only one: a Mobile station that refused to take Heinrich's credit card using tap to pay. This was the first gas station where we had encountered any trouble. We gave up and decided to drive the rest of the way to Glenorchy since it had a gas station.

The drive to Glenorchy was beautiful. The weather was now mostly sunny. The road followed the shore of Lake Wakatipu, and we had lovely views of the Remarkables mountains. We stopped at several lookouts: Seven Mile Point Track, Wilson Bay and Bennetts Bluff were very nice.

In the little town of Glenorchy we checked into our room (Glenorchy Alpine Suite Aspen #3) and then found the gas station to fill up. I checked the weather forecast and saw that it was supposed to be mostly cloudy the following morning. Since it was only early evening and we still had a few hours before sunset, we decided to take the drive north of Glenorchy. The last time we were there in 2019 we were not able to see any of the surrounding mountains due to rain and fog. Today the mountain scenery was spectacular.

We drove the one-way bridge across the Dart River and then to the Lake Sylvan trail head. This area had been used for several Lord of the Rings filming sites: Isengard was one of the locations along the river.

We did not have time to hike to Lake Sylvan, but I took lots of photos as we drove back through the valley. We then drove to Diamond Lake for a brief stop.

Back at the hotel room we had eggs and potatoes for dinner. Afterwards I walked down to the wharf and took lots of photos of the surrounding mountains that were brilliant gold in the setting sun.

February 4, 2026

We woke up to a spectacular day with clear blue skies. We took a day trip south to Jackson Bay, which is a very remote area off of the West Coast and as far south as the road goes in this area.

Our first stop was the Hapuka Estuary Walk that was just a mile down the road from our motel. It was a short loop walk on boardwalks through a wetlands area, followed by a stroll through the rain forest. We were there during low tide, and the estuary was a big muddy flat.

The next stop was at the Arawhata River Bridge viewpoint. The river was a lovely shade of blue, and some side channels were so still that my camera was able to capture some nice reflections in the water.

At the end of the road in Jackson Bay we took the Wharekai Te Kau Walk to Ocean Beach. This was an easy walk through rain forest that followed a stream leading to the ocean. The "beach" here was just a cove, but the view was very nice.

Back in Jackson Bay we had a fish and chips lunch at the Cray Pot restaurant with outdoor seating and a beautiful view of the bay. The fish special of the day was orange roughy, and it was very good.

After lunch we walked down to the wharf and admired the views. The day was so clear that I was able to see snow-capped Mount Cook in the distance.

We started the drive back and stopped at Neil's Beach. This was a long rocky beach with lots of drift wood. We had that section of the beach all to ourselves.

We took a side road that headed inland and walked a short trail to Ellery Lake. This was another easy walk through the rain forest. The trail followed Ellery Creek to the lake. The lake was another peaceful spot: we encountered only one other couple along the trail.

On the return drive back to the motel, we stopped again at the Hapuka Estuary Walk where it was now high tide. The muddy flat had turned into a lake. I took a photo at the same spot to compare it to what it looked like in the morning.

February 3, 2026

It rained all night and was still raining when we got up. It was a 4-hour drive to our next destination, Haast. The weather went from bad to worse as the drive took us into the heart of the storm. The road climbed out of the flats near the ocean into the glacier country: Franz Joseph and Fox Glacier. The road was very twisty in that area with many one-lane bridges. The scenery was lush rain forest. The trees were drinking plenty of rain today! In the open areas the wind was fierce at times with rain pouring down almost horizontally toward us. It was not a fun drive.

Fortunately it was the third time we had driven this road, so we had already done our sightseeing in much nicer weather in years past. We felt no need to stop anywhere, other than short bathroom breaks in Franz Joseph and again in Bruce Bay. The rain started to let up after we drove back down to the ocean at Bruce Bay, and it finally quit when we were within about a half hour drive from Haast.

Our accommodation was a one-bedroom apartment at the Bay Road Motels, about a 10-minute drive south of Haast. It had a small kitchen and very good wifi reception, which was important since there was no cell phone service in this remote area. It was in a very quiet and peaceful location.

After we checked in, we drove back north into Haast to the visitor center to obtain some information on the local hikes and things to do in the area. We were hoping to arrive before it closed at 4:30, but we did not take into account some road work that had up to 20-minute delays. Unfortunately we got stuck with the maximum delay which had us arrive after closing time. Fortunately I was able to find most of the information that I was looking for on the hikes posted just inside the windows, so I took pictures of all of the descriptions.

I walked a short trail behind the visitor center and encountered a kereru bird (New Zealand pigeon) that decided to perch in a tree very close to me.

The weather was clearing nicely, and there were large patches of blue sky. I took some photos of the surrounding mountains.

We decided to check out Haast Beach. We found a small pullout just across the street from the Haast Beach Motel that had a path to the beach. A sign in front was marked Private Property - restricted access, please keep the gate closed. A fence ran down each side of the path. We debated what "restricted" meant, and we thought it was just a warning to stay on the path. We found out the hard way this was not the case: after we returned from the beach, the owner met us and scolded us that we were indeed on private property. He was not very nice at all. I apologized profusely and he calmed down a bit. Afterwards Heinrich found the path on a map, and it was marked for public use. We speculated the owner just did not want any outsiders to park across from his hotel. But seriously, if he wanted to keep people out, why not just put a lock on the gate?

The beach itself was quite nice with some gray sand and driftwood. The entire area was remote with very few people.

Back at the apartment we had chicken and pasta with honey mustard sauce and a salad for dinner.

February 2, 2026

The morning was heavily overcast with occasional sprinkles. We drove into town and decided to visit The National Kiwi Centre. We spent a couple of hours indoors viewing different varieties of fish, turtles, frogs, huge eels, and two kiwi birds. We were there for the morning eel feeding, and I had the opportunity to feed and pet the eels. Many of the eels in the tank were 80 to 100 years old.

Next came the kiwi feeding. The two kiwi birds had been hiding earlier in the day, but they popped out after the food trays were filled. One of the birds became quite active and was hopping and jumping back and forth.

Next we visited the New World supermarket across the street and stocked up on food for the next few days. Then we returned to the kiwi centre one more time to watch the noon eel and kiwi feeding.

We drove back to our cabin, had sandwiches for lunch, and then returned to Greymouth to swap out the rental car. The new car was ready for us just as we arrived. It was exactly the same model and color as the old car, so I was glad to be able to keep the hybrid. We did end up getting a discount of a few days off of the rental car price as compensation for all of the trouble.

The weather in Greymouth was partly cloudy and better than in Hokitika where a storm was approaching from the south. We drove to the nearby town of Kumara to do some local sightseeing. We took a short hike to Londonderry Rock, a huge glacial erratic. It was a nice walk through the moss covered trees and ferns inside the rain forest.

Next we went on another short hike to an old 1930's swimming pool site.

Nearby, I went on the Taylors Hill Walk, which was a short loop trail that climbed to a nice view of the river valley below.

We returned to the cabin and grilled ribeye steaks for dinner.

I spent some time watching the local farm animals that were roaming around in their pens directly across from our cabin.

There was no sunset or glow worm viewing for us since it started raining shortly before dark.

February 1, 2026

The weather forecast was for sunny all day, so we got up early and took the 1.5 hour drive to Arthur's Pass. The road to the pass had stunning views in the morning light. We drove over the Otira Viaduct and passed under the Reid Falls Aqueduct. I was able to take some nice photos along the drive. We stopped at a viewpoint of the Otira Viaduct.

We continued on to Arthur's Pass Village, where we spent the morning walking around the town. We were looking for kea birds which we had seen in abundance during our visit in 2023. But none were to be found at the place we had watched them previously, since there was no longer a dumping ground of food scraps for them to feed on. Much better for the birds not to get fed, but I missed seeing them.

We stopped at Arthur's Pass Store to buy chicken cranberry pies that were delicious and my favorite New Zealand pie so far. We sat outside to eat our pies, and we heard kea birds in the distance. Then we spotted a few hanging outside the front of the store, hopping around the tables where the customers were eating their food. Fortunately everyone was being good about not feeding them. Heinrich sat on one of the benches near a table to take some videos. A kea bird came closer and closer to Heinrich, and then suddenly it grabbed the bag of trash from our pies and flew off! It then handed the bag off to another kea.

After that bit of fun, we decided we would spend the afternoon taking hikes to Devils Punchbowl Falls and the Otira Valley Track for some mountain views. We walked back to our car to drive to the trail head, and that's when the day went south, in a bad way. We had a key fob to electronically unlock the rental car. Heinrich pressed the button and nothing happened. And even though there was a physical key that we used to start the engine, there was no keyhole on any of the doors to unlock the vehicle. What to do? We walked over to the nearby visitor center to ask for help. Maybe someone there might help us figure out if there was a manual method of unlocking the car. A very friendly ranger offered to take a look. Heinrich found a way to open the key fob to extract the coin battery inside. The ranger happened to have the same type of coin battery, and he gave it to us to swap out. I thought for sure that would fix the problem, but no! It still didn't work.

The ranger suggested we do a Google search to see if there might be some information online. I found a video that showed a method of unlocking a similar model. Sure enough, our car happened to have the same design. On the driver's side door there was a tiny slot located underneath the handle. Heinrich inserted the key into that slot, which allowed him to pop off part of the handle. Underneath was a keyhole to unlock the car.

The car was still drivable, but there was no way we were going to stop anywhere for an extended time and leave the car unlocked with all of our stuff inside. Even though most of our stuff was in the room back in Hokitika, there was enough still inside that we would worry about. So I got out the rental car agreement from the glove box and found a phone number to call for help at the agency. It connected to one of those automated lines where I had to press a series of buttons before finally getting to talk to a real person. I ended up getting routed to roadside assistance that offered to send someone out to try to fix it. Estimated wait time was a half hour to an hour and a half. And there was no guarantee it would get fixed.

This did not seem like an ideal option, especially since the car was still drivable and we weren't stranded. I tried once again to call someone directly at the agency, this time using a different phone number. The agent I talked to suggested that we drive the car to Greymouth to swap out for a different car. But she didn't know if they had any cars available. She said she would call them to check and then she would call me back. Twenty minutes elapsed with no phone call. At this point we had been dealing with the situation for almost two hours. I did a Google search and found that the agency at Greymouth closed for the day at 4 PM: it was already after 2 PM and Greymouth was over an hour drive away. I called the agency one more time, talked to a different person who told me yes - we should just leave and go to Greymouth. And since roadside assistance had also not bothered to show up by this time, I called them back to cancel the assistance.

We left immediately to drive to Greymouth -- waving bye bye to the nice waterfall out the window that I had wanted to see close up. At least we had already done that hike in 2019 so it would have been a repeat. But still… it was not fun to leave on an absolutely gorgeous afternoon there. I knew we would not try to return the next day because the weather forecast was for cloudy and afternoon rain.

We did stop briefly to snap a photo of the Otira Viaduct and other bridges on the other side of the road as we drove back down the mountain.

We arrived in Greymouth shortly after 3 PM and then had trouble finding where the rental car agency was located. Google Maps had directed us to a rental car return area near the train station, but we weren't seeing any signs for Apex Car Rentals. Then I received a phone call, finally from the first agent that I had talked to that was supposed to call me back… after 2 hours had elapsed. She said she had repeatedly tried to call the agency in Greymouth but nobody there was answering the phone. I told her, we are already there, how about helping us find the agency? She said she thought it was inside the train station. We finally found it there after several minutes of wandering around. There was one woman who was manning all of the counters for various rental agencies. And guess what, no cars were available that day. She did have one car but it was not a hybrid, and that was unacceptable. Our options were to return the next afternoon or wait until we got to Queenstown a few days later. Since we didn't have much planned for the following day due to the bad weather forecast, we told her we would return at around 2 PM for the swap.

It was still a beautiful day in Greymouth, so I looked for other options to spend a few hours sightseeing in the area. And I found the Point Elizabeth Walkway. I remembered this was something I had put on the agenda in 2019 and again in 2023 but both times we had skipped it due to weather or time constraints. We drove to the trail head, and I had brought a small backpack that I stuffed all the valuables inside that I really cared about. It was about a 2.5 mile round trip hike up a bluff and through a beautiful tropical forest with ocean views.

We drove back to Hokitika, had scrambled eggs and potatoes for dinner, and then walked out to the beach to watch the sunset which was much better than the previous day.

At the end of the day we walked over to the dell to watch the glow worms one more time.

January 31, 2026

Today was a long drive day: 4 hours to Hokitika. I checked the weather forecast, and today and tomorrow were supposed to be nice in Hokitika and in Arthur's Pass, but the following day was supposed to rain. If we were to have any chance of seeing Hokitika Gorge in good weather, it would have to be today, since we would be in Arthur's Pass for the other good weather day. This plan would add another 40 minutes to the drive.

So we got an early start after saying goodbye to Rascal the cat. He had climbed up onto our bed the night before and was sleeping with us.

We stopped to fill up on gas and then stopped to buy more treats at The Bakery in Wakefield. Then we drove to the Hope Saddle Lookout. Google Maps had reported this area was closed, but we saw no signs telling us to keep out. It was a short hike to the trig at the top of the hill. The views were quite nice.

We drove on and had a brief stop to look at the view from the Upper Buller River Gorge on our way to the west coast. Then I took over driving and drove the remaining 2 hours to Hokitika Gorge.

The nice blue sky had disappeared and it was now very cloudy but not raining. I didn't have much hope for seeing any beautiful colors in the gorge. The last time we visited was in February 2019 when the water color was gray. It was such a disappointment. We tried again to see the gorge in 2023, but we ended up turning around before we even got there due to heavy rain.

So today I had set my expectations to very low. We walked up the beautiful path through the rain forest, turned the bend, and wow! The gorge came into view and it was so blue! We crossed the swinging bridge and walked down to the base of the water, admiring the gorge from various angles. A second very long swinging bridge had been constructed in 2020, the year after we had previously visited, so now there was a loop trail through the area. It was really nice.

Heinrich drove us back to Hokitika where as checked into our room for the next 3 nights at the Shining Star Beachfront Accommodation. We ended up getting the exact same room that we had when we stayed in 2023. It was a studio with a small kitchenette. We arrived just in time to seeing the evening train pass through.

For dinner we had chicken with honey and mustard sauce, rice, and a salad.

After dinner I walked out to the beach to watch the sunset, but I arrived a bit too late. The horizon was cloudy. I did manage to catch a little bit of color.

After dark we walked over to the Hokitika Glow Worm Dell which was just across the street. This had been a favorite activity in 2023, and it was just as much fun today seeing the clusters of glow worms.

January 30, 2026

We chose today as the better weather day to go to Abel Tasman National Park, and it was indeed the best weather we have had so far on this trip: mostly sunny with a few clouds.

After watching a lovely sunrise from the deck of our Airbnb, we took the half hour drive to Kaiteriteri, where we had booked the Wilsons Swing Bridge Bush and Beach tour. The tour involved a 1-hour boat ride to Medlands Beach, followed by a hike and some side trips to Anchorage Beach, where we would be picked up by the shuttle boat later in the afternoon. We hiked a total of 9.5 miles including all of the side trips.

On the morning boat ride we passed the Split Apple Rock formation. The shuttle made stops at Apple Tree Bay, Anchorage Beach, and Torrent Bay before dropping us off at Medlands Beach.

We arrived at Medlands at 10:15 am, and we were scheduled to be picked up at Anchorage at 5:20 pm. A direct hike to Anchorage was about 4 hours, so we expected to have plenty of time to do all of the side trips. As it turned out, we made enough stops on the hike that we ended up at Anchorage with about a half hour to spare before the boat pickup time.

Our first side trip was to hike north from Medlands to Bark Bay, where we crossed a swinging bridge and viewed Bark Bay Falls.

We retraced our steps back to Medlands Beach and continued south along the main trail. We took another side trip to South Head, where there was a small view of the beach below.

We went back to the main trail and crossed a second swinging bridge at Falls River.

The trail continued along a ridge with occasional views of the beaches below, and then it dropped down to Torrent Bay which was the halfway point of the hike. Just past Torrent Bay we found a picnic table where we stopped and ate our sandwiches for lunch.

It was low tide at Torrent Bay, and we had the option to take a shortcut across the mud flats to Anchorage which would have saved over an hour of hiking. We chose not to take that option since we wanted to go to Cleopatras Pool which was along the high tide trail.

We still had at least 2 hours of hiking to do, and it was 3 hours until our boat pickup time, so I was getting a bit nervous about the time. It turned out we didn't have to worry since the trail to Cleopatras Pool was relatively flat and fast. We didn't stay long at Cleopatras Pool. Frankly I found it underwhelming, although I suppose it would have been more exciting if we had decided to swim. Only one other person was at Cleopatras Pool while we were there. Most of the others we had seen along the trail had taken the low tide shortcut.

We crossed one more swinging bridge on the main trail back from Cleopatras Pool, and then we had one more uphill slog before finally descending to Anchorage Beach. It was 4:35 pm, and we were supposed to be there at 5:05 before our boat pickup time at 5:20. So we had a little bit of time to relax on the beach before our ride back to Kaiteriteri.

The boat ride back made only one stop at Apple Tree Bay, and it did a close pass by of Adele Island where there were a couple of seals on the rocks (unfortunately I didn't get any good photos of the seals).

We drove back to our AirBnb, relaxed for the evening, and played with Rascal the cat. We had sandwiches for dinner because we were both too tired to cook.