Mount Somers

From Mount Cook we headed north to Mount Somers, on the edge of the Canterbury Plains. Loaded up with full trad climbing gear, cooking and sleeping stuff and 3 days of food, we tramped for 2.5 hours up to the Pinnacles Hut to go climbing on the fantastic Rhyolite columns of Mount Somers.

The first afternoon we did a few short climbs and a lot of bashing around the hillside trying to get between the crags. The next morning we woke up to a complete whiteout, which much to our disapointment lasted all day, so we were hut bound and tried to pass the time playing cards, doing crosswords and getting the coal burner lit in our private mountain hut. The following day, it stopped raining but we got a bit wet hiking up to the crags through the bush and it wasn't till just before lunch that the clouds lifted and the sun (tenatively) came out and we managed an afternoon ticking some classic (strenuous) crack, corner and arete climbs before tramping all the way back to the van, arriving about 21:00.

Mount Cook

Mount Cook is a 2 hour scenic drive from Tarras and the first view of the mighty peak from 50km away as you drive along the pristine blue lake is pretty impressive (in fact that is the extent of a lot of tourist's experience here... nutters!).

We did a spot of climbing at Sebastapol Bluffs overlooking the wide expanse of the Tasman and Hooker Valleys and did some breathtakingly stunning short tramps along both valleys to see the two glaciers and their terminal lakes (complete with icebergs!). The next day we did a strenuous tramp up to the Mueller Hut and Mount Olliver a little further on (Sir E H's first mountain!) with fantastic views of the Hooker Valley, Mount Cook itself and the Mueller Glacier.

We're looking forward to coming back to this amazing alpine playground.

Wanaka

We headed back to Wanaka and met up with Caroline and David (friends of Helen's mum) to watch the Ironman Triathlon. 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a marathon.. in a day. We watch the last team (average age 75) finish just after midnight to a line of patient spectators with sparklers and fireworks. The last individual finished a little later.

We then had a few days climbing on the fantastic little crags around Wanaka and getting our medical sorted for our NZ working holiday visa, whilst staying again in Tarras and enjoying a few home comforts (hmm.... oven and sofa).

Queenstown and Glenorchy

After a few days pottering in a showery Queenstown, managing a few sessions cragging locally, we finally had a spell of good weather forecast so headed up the valley to Glenorchy! We mananged to get some elusive last minute hut tickets for a hut on the famous Routeburn track so did two days in one to get to the Lake Mackenzie Hut (that we got to from the other end a week before and still managed to get there by 15:00). We returned to the road end the following day by the unmarked Emily's Pass, involving a dry creek scramble, steep scree and tussock and descending down a stream - extreme NZ tramping!

Without a break we spent the next day doing the classic 'Ravages of Time' on Chinaman's Bluff - a 300m route up the side of the incredibly scenic Dart Valley. We got back to the van around 21:30 so it was a pretty long day!

We allowed ourselves a rest day around Queenstown, enjoying the luxury of some non-campstove food before returning back up to The Remarkables overlooking Queenstown. On our first day we did The Grand Traverse of Double and Single Cone - a fantastic alpine ridge scramble with 2000m of exposure beneath us all the way down to Lake Wakatipu. On the second day, we dragged ourselves back up to Lake Alta and the scree slopes above to do a long multipitch route on the NE face of Double Cone (though abbing off after the difficulties as we had already ticked the summit the day before).

And now we're back in Queenstown watching the rain, having some much needed rest, keeping an eye on the weather forecast and planning what to do next.

Tramping in The Remarkables

Crag at Arawata Terrace near Queenstown

Glenorchy

Lake Harris on the Routeburn
Lake Makenzie and Emily's Pass

Approaching Emily's Pass

Lake Mackenzie from Emily's Pass

Final swing bridge on the Routeburn

Dart Valley from high on Chinaman's Bluff

Crux pitch of 'Ravages of Time' on Chinaman's Bluff

The outragiously exposed belay ledge on 'Ravages..' the valley hundreds of metres below.

Single (left) and Double Cone (right) in The Remarkables

Lake Alta behind

Double Cone from Single Cone

Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu 2000m beneath us

"DB 'Eh" on the NE Face of Double Cone

Fiordland and the Darrans

We spent New Year's Eve cruising around Doubtful Sound. The weather was typical for Fiordland (its a rainforest after all!) but it was very atmospheric in the mist and the waterfalls were in full flow down the steep towering sides of the fiord. It was especially fun out near the mouth of the Fiord watching seals while the full ravages of the Tasman Sea were being hurled upon the ship, good job we brought waterproofs!

Next stop was a rather misty and wet Milford Sound but after sitting out the whole day in the cafe, the rain eventually stopped and the mist cleared for our view of the iconic Mitre Peak.
The day after we walked up though the morning mist to Key Summit to be rewarded with a brief glimse of the snow covered peaks of The Darrans and the Alias Mountains but views to the south were obliterated by a freak NZ sleet shower before we got to the viewpoint. We spent the rest of the day walking to and back from the Mackenzie Hut (day 3 of the famous Routeburn Great Walk) though intermittent showers and almost constant mist.

We have now parted company with Ruth and Peter, but it looks like they are looking forward to getting back soon. We've headed back to Queenstown to get some more tramping and climbing done till some good weather eventually arrives in Fiordland (late Janurary/Feb is usually good) and we can head back to the awesome looking Darrans.

Lake Manapouri

Experiencing the full force of the Tasman Sea at the mouth of Doubtful Sound

Atmospheric Doutful Sound

Solitutde at Lake Marian in The Darrans

Cloud lifts over Milford Sound and Mitre Peak

Wanaka, Tarras and Queenstown

We spent a brief days around the senic Wanaka and Queenstown staying with a uni friend of Ruth at their lovely house surrounded by the rolling golden hills of Central Otago. We managed a short day climbing near Lake Wanaka and an afternoon at Wye Creek near Queenstown. We hope to get back there soon...View from Tarras

Biking around Lake Wanaka

Arthur's Pass and Westland

We met Peter and Ruth (Helen's parents) in Christchurch with their newly aquired white rental van. We headed back though Castle Hill, now with the hill tops sprinkled with snow, to Arthur's Pass National Park and did a fantastic one day tramp to the top of Avalanche Peak, with its supurb views of the surrounding mountains.

From there we headed to the goldfields of the rugged West Coast, exploring Hokitika and Lake Kaniere. We spent Christmas at Franz Josef Galcier, walking up to the terminal face and having a Christmas treat of a scenic flight over the Southern Alps, around Mount Tasman, Aoraki/Mount Cook and over the Fox, Franz Josef and Tasman glaciers.

The weather then changed for the worse so we headed south, quicker than planned, through typical Westland driving rain, over Haast Pass to better weather on the other side of the divide.


The newest members of our travelling contingent

Two vans in Castle Hill basin, the tops dusted by the previous day's snow

The Alpine Highway towards Arthur's Pass

Mount Rolleston from Avalanche Peak

Ruth and Peter approach the lofty summit of Avalanche Peak after a hefty 1000m climb from the valley floor

Aroaki/Mount Cook.... one day

Mount Tasman from our plane, just wanted to get dropped off (but not too close to the top, where's the fun in that!)

Christmas Day at the Franz Josef glacier

Christmas dinner -BBQ lamb, fried potatoes and veg plus Xmas pud and custard!!