8/3 - Mt. Egmont

Hi All,

Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world, the volcano Mt Egmont rules supreme standing tall above the surrounding landscape.
In good weather it is a challenging climb for the fit and well prepared.

At first we planned to walk for a short walking trail in this national park, but after meeting a local guy (in the middle of the short trail) who recommended us to climb over the top, we decided to change our plans for a bit and to go with full power all the way to the summit of the mountain, and it was definitely worth the efforts.



It was not an easy climbing, 5.5 hours ascend from 940 meters above sea level until the top (2518 m), at some parts we were sliding down a bit since the surface was sliding gravel, at the end of the climb we had to use our hands to grab the rocks because it was so very steep.
At the top we were able to see above the cloud line some parts of New Zealand which were so far away like the south island.





the way down look us 3.5 hours and looked like an eternity and we can say that some time we skied without snow (on the gravel) and fell down a lot.
That was one of the hardest tracks we did in this country, but also one of the rewarded ones.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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5/3 - Kaikoura

Hi All,

we decided to diverse from our route and go 130 km out of our way towards Kaikoura town, just because we've heard some good things about the cruise for whale watching over there.
On the way we picked up a hitch hiker from Christchurch which turned out to be a really sweet girl.

Kaikoura is a lovely town on the coast line and in a distance to the snow capped mountains, while driving towards it, we really enjoyed the scenery.

The whale watching cruise turned out to be an awful one, we have seen one sleepy whale and the second one just dive when we came, the winds got stronger and the waves got bigger and bigger, we felt terrible, both of us got the motion sickness and couldn't move without had the feeling to throw up. Yoni got it pretty seriously, he vomit most of the way and felt really really bad.
Eventually, we didn't see much whales and we ended up sick from this trip, you can't really say it was worth the 260 dollars we spent, now can you ?



anyway, now we are feeling much better, we drank a lot of water and had a good rest. tomorrow we hope that it will not get as windy as today since we are about to go on a ferry which will take us to the north island of New Zealand. Yes, tomorrow we are leaving the south island, we spent here a wonderful time and hope to do so in the north part as well.

So, wish us luck, and have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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4/3 - Queen Charlotte

Hi All,

The Queen Charlotte Track offers a spectacular trip through the Marlborough Sounds, it passes through lush coastal forest, historic bays, and along skyline ridges with unsurpassed views of Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds.
Most of the track is wide and benched, and all major streams have been bridged.
For walkers, boots and a good level of fitness are required, and the 71 kilometre trip can be done in 3-5 days.

We did a one day trip in this walk and climbed to a lookout which was breath taking, it was a shame that the weather was cloudy and sometime a bit of rainy but nevertheless, this walk was a brilliant one.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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2/3 - Farewell Spit

Hi All,

This is the most spectacular coastline in the region, with its caverns, islands, sand dunes and long stretch of beach. The walk passes over farm paddocks and through a section of coastal forest.



At the beach we got to see 4 baby Sea dogs playing around, they were so cute, although we wet our shoes and feet because of the high tide, it was worth every moment.



At this day we travel with Noa and Yaniv, a nice couple which we met at Abel tasman track, it was real pleasure to travel along, we took the time slowly during that walk, enjoying the difference view of this area.

2 other short trips were to Pupu Springs, which are consider to be the biggest natural coldwater springs in the southern hemisphere, and to the grove - a narrow chasm which was cracked under a big rock some many years ago.



The last couples of days we are sleeping in HIT and Chiburim families which hosts Israelis, we discovered this type of accommodation is very popular and we needed to book at least few days in advance.
we were really lucky to get hosted by Rob and Kirsten who were reached after so many "dead end" phone calls (they are not in the book, we got their number through other couples which were fully booked), although we didn't speak with them a lot since both of them were so busy, we found very nice people.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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29/2 - Abel Tasman

Hi All,

The Abel Tasman Coast Track, located in Abel Tasman National Park on South Island’s northern shores. The Coast Track is consider to be one of the Great Walks in New Zealand and extends for 51km.
A good thing about this track is that it can be modified, we did only the first day walk as we found out the views often repeat themselves.

During that day we walked for about 21Km in 7.5 hours along the coast line, in the morning we booked for a water taxi which would take us to Bark bay and walked all the way back to Mahuru where we parked the car.



At first we didn't enjoy it very much, since we walked mostly in the bush without seeing the beaches and coast line which the trail follows, but at the second part of the day, we got to see some of the wonderful beaches this track has to offer, especially the one in Torrent Bay.



We found ourselves accelerate our paste since it became dark and there were a lot of km to go, so, although it suppose to be an easy flat track, at the end we were pretty exhausted.



The day after, we were happy to get a cloudy rainy weather, that gave us the opportunity to ease things up a little bit and have a rest day without feeling any guilty that we are waisting some unseen walking trails.

have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

28/2 - Nelson Lakes

Hi All,

Nelson Lakes national Park is on the way up to the north part of the south NZ island.
To start the day walks in this park, we drove to a little town called: "St.Arnaud", With the recommendation of DOC (Department of Conservation) employees, we did the Mt Robert circuit track.
The track starts with a nice and easy climbing for 1.5 hours combine walking in and out of the bush. the view were bird-looking on the lake Rotoiti and around St.Arnaud area.

The weather was super, as you know this is a main factor while going and hiking outside in New Zealand.



At the rest of the walk, we followed Mt Robert ridge and after 4 hours of easy stroll we descent to the car park, completing the circuit.



Sunset at nelson Lakes Area:


Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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27/2 - Punakaiki

Hi All,

This is just a short and accesible trip we did on the side of the main road, short but very popular as the tourist buses unloaded the many people to have a look and see.



The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts though a number of vertical blowholes during high tides. Together with the 'pancake'-layering of the limestone (created by immense pressure on alternating hard and soft layers of marine creatures and plant sediments), these form the main attraction of the area.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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26/2 - Arthur's Pass

Hi All,

Many people have enjoyed this mountain-top trip offering panoramic views of the Southern mountains. However, some have met with tragedy because they did not realise the possible dangers of this route. This is an extremely steep and rocky journey to the top of an 1833-metre peak.
After the long tracks we did, this one was reasonable hard and challange.

The track climbs steeply through Mountain beech forest. In several places the track comes very close to Avalanche Creek and some stunning waterfalls.





Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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