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I am planning on a month long foray to New Zealand next month, and was wondering if anyone had some recommended trips, peaks, hikes, or places not to miss. The plan for the trip is light alpinism, hiking, and diving, with most time being spent on the south island. Thanks.

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http://www.ericandlucie.com/New%20Zealand/New%20Zealand.htm

 

How much time will you be spending on the North Island? If you're landing in Auckland and driving to Wellington on the way South, it'd be worth spending a day in the Taupo/Tongariro NP area while you're en route.

 

Will try to chime in with some more feedback later, but it's worth searching the archives as there are some pretty good threads in there from previous inquiries.

 

Drinking wise - stick to NZ whites - amazing and cheap. Beer is overpriced and marginal IMO.

 

 

 

 

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Hey

As Jon pointed out, I do live here now, been living here for 6! years. You're spot on to skip the North Island - for what it sounds like you want to do - the north island is terrible.

 

My main recommendation is to go to Castle Hill. it's the only thing, climbing wise, that NZ has to offer that is world class. Great bouldering (and I don't even really like bouldering). It's phenomenal.

The rest is largely worse than you'll find in north america - the rock is crap, for the most part, the weather sucks and conditions generally conspire against you.

For some light alpinism, I would recommend the NW ridge of Aspiring. You're really coming at the wrong time of year for doing glaciated peaks - at the end of summer. If you were willing to get a helicopter and fly in somewhere, there would be more options, but as it sounds like you're walking, you can skip most of the glaciated terrain on aspiring by approaching via Bevin Col. The NW ridge is quite easy, a little 4th class rock, some steep snow. The SW ridge is a little harder, snow to about 70 degrees, WI3/3+ at the crux.

Wanaka's a cool place - some good sport climbing, close to aspiring, nice atmosphere. Nice camping. Go to Red Star Burgers. Ask where it is.

I'd skip Queenstown - it's a tourist trap. The climbing's not that good (I don't think). The camping at wye creek is okay - no water/toilets.

The remarkables (a mountain range just outside queenstown)have some of NZ's only decent alpine rock - the traverse of the remarkables is kind of a classic easy outing. They grade things differently here (Eubank grading system) I think the crux on that is about a 14, which is like 5.6

The Darrens - a granitic mountain range at the southwestern corner of the south island. Amazing looking mountains, but they get 7 METERS of rain/year. Best not to plan anything here. If you insist on driving to Milford Sound like all the tourists, you will drive through them. Check out the Chasm (a tourist stop), it's cool. There is also some good cragging along this road - crags are called babylon and the chasm.

Abel Tasman, at the north end of the south island is supposed to have some great diving and beach hiking. I've never been here, so I can't comment, but the pictures look nice.

 

That should give you something to get started.

 

Some THINGS TO KNOW:

1. you cannot buy filter-coffee from a coffee shop. It's all espresso.

2. the Freedom Camping Law - it's perfectly legal to camp on any crown land that does not have a No Camping sign (or some other legislation) - basically you can camp anywhere.

3. ACC - Accidents Claims Compensation - This is amazing - pay attention to this: ALL people in NZ, whether you're here for 30 seconds or a lifetime have complete accident coverage. Let me phrase this another way - if you have an accident in NZ, trip down the stairs, hurt yourself on some high peak, get hit by a car, whatever - if it's an accident you are covered, from the moment the helicopter/ambulance arrived until you're done with physio. It's free, there's nothing to buy into, nada. Just say the magic words "I had an accident".

 

In all honesty, I'd skip NZ - aside from Castle Hill, it's way overrated as a climbing destination. But since it sounds like you've already bought your tickets, and australia is underwater, please feel free to PM me about any specific questions you might have.

 

hope that helps

 

Graham

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Graham gives a lot of good advice but I'll add that, depending on your inclination and seasonal variations, other large glaciated peaks may not be out of the question. I climbed Mt. Cook twice in a week in mid February some years ago and walked from the road for both climbs. It was full value: just getting to the huts was equivalant to a fairly large North Cascades peak ascent.

 

Also, Tongariro National Park on the North Island is worth a couple of days' tramping with incredible volcano's and huts to stay in.

 

Lastly, many towns have motor camps which are sort of like a KOA campground here but they are much more friendly. You can get a shower and there are inside facilities for cooking and laundry.

 

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One other stray thought:

 

When I was there we travelled by thumb quite a bit. Fairly soon into our adventure we were told by a local that we should walk along the roadside, with thumbs out, but back to the oncoming traffic and walking as if we were prepared to walk to our destination. If we stood facing the traffic presenting ourselves as we would in the U.S., we would be perceived as lazy and undeserving of a ride. The local was right. When we started walking down the roadside with our thumbs out but backs to the traffic we actually got rides.

 

It is funny how, in even a British commonwealth country (where I would expect sensibilitles to be relatively familiar), cultural things can be so oddly different. If you ask Kiwis's to tell you about hiking, light alpinism and diving, be prepared for some difficuties in translation. One common translation issue is that they tend to understate things. If they tell you a particular trek is "fairly easy," be careful.

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Hitchhiking is very common here, but becoming less so. If you do, be prepared - Kiwis are AWFUL drivers - they love to pass on blind corners, love to ride people's bumpers that are going the speed limit. I've had a couple "Holy Shit" moments while hitchhiking in NZ.

 

On the subject of driving - it takes a lot longer to get from A-B than it would in north america because the roads are so twisty. Less so in the South Island, but still. Roads are a lot less driver-friendly than the roads in NA.

 

Another thing you'll find - all trail signs are in hours to such and such a point. Never in km. Always in the time it'll take you to get there.

 

 

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I know you may be looking for more climbing-related suggestions, but one of my favorite parts of my stay on the south island was staying on the beach in Golden Bay for about a week.

There's some sport climbing nearby also - it's pretty convenient, but nothing spectacular. (Payne's Ford is billed as the best sport climbing in NZ, but that's not saying much).

And the Abel Tasman can allow for a pretty mellow trek in warm weather. You can kayak part of it too.

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NZ has great alpine climbing (snow/ice/glaciers). The rock is forgettable (as Graham states) with a few exceptions here and there. Castle Hill is indeed lovely and fun, though not the reason to go to NZ. Go for the alpine climbing.

 

It will really depend on the seasonal conditions that you find, as MattP says. You might find climbable alpine conditions in late summer, or ... bleak late season conditions. In any case, the NW Ridge of Aspiring may be a good idea, as its more a rock ridge to an unforgettable summit in a wild alpine area. The Bevan Col approach may be the best (or only?) way in that late in the season (other than flying).

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All: Thanks for the pointers. Our rough itinerary includes diving at the Poor Knight Islands up North, Mt Taranaki, kayaking Able Tasman NP, Mt Aspiring (most probably the NW Ridge), the Copeland Track, Castle Hill, Cave Stream (near Castle Hill), and Mt Owen. More serious alpinism will hinge upon how well I recover (I just had the titanium rod pulled out of my femur). Weather will dictate if and when, the itinerary is open ended. Any other must see or favorite spots?

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yeah, there is some pretty good beer here in NZ. Montieths and Mac's are two of the bigger/best distributed small breweries. If you're around christchurch/parts of the lower south island, there are some excellent microbrews - Green Man and Emmerson's are both quite good. I think there are about 4 or 5 microbreweries in christchurch, Three Boys, Aviator are two that I can think of off the top of my head. Wanaka (you should definitely head there)has a microbrewery too. I would stay away from the Montieth's Ale Houses (kind of a restaurant). I've had one of the worst meals of my life in one. The Speight's Ale House is better.

 

Speights is one of the bigger breweries in NZ and makes a decent beer. The Gold Medal Ale is their classic, though they make a few other decent beers too.

 

On the north island, beer pickings are slim(mer), but Epic is very good, and New Plymouth is supposed to have a good brewery but I've never tried it, or know what it's called.

 

I'd disagree that the beer is shit in NZ.

Edited by EastCoastBastard
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