Archive February 2013
Mount Cook National Park and Sealy Tarns
The highest peak of the Southern Alps is Aoraki/Mount Cook (at the right edge of the image). The National Park named after it offers some very nice walks, one of which leads up to the Sealy Tarns and – if you have enough time and energy – further on to the Mueller Hut where you can stay for the night.
Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd
Leaving Christchurch with its heavily damaged city, my first stop is Lake Tekapo. While this lake and the town of the same name on its shores lie pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it is a busy place.
185 Empty Chairs
I am back in New Zealand and start my trip in Christchurch. The city was damaged heavily during my last visit here by the disastrous earthquake on February, 22, 2011. Large parts of the city were destroyed and 185 people lost their lives.
The Deuter-Lowe Combination
I will soon be traveling to New Zealand again. While on the last trips I had a rental car only for a couple of days – if at all –, this time I will have one available to me for the whole six weeks. I only plan to do one longer walk, the four-day Milford Track, and maybe another two-day hike. Carrying camera equipment together with everything else you need for four days requires some thought. One-day hikes, however, are not much simpler in that respect. The questions that need to be addressed are just different ones. This post is only about the solution I currently prefer for day hikes.
Tramping with Camera and Backpack
When I go tramping (hiking, that is) – as I plan to do throughout the next month on New Zealand’s South Island – I usually carry a daypack for shorter trips or a larger backpack on multi-day tramps with me. Inside the backpack, there is basically all my stuff that I need for that day or couple of days, but also my photo equipment. However, I like to have my camera ready to shoot during most of the day – unless the rain is pouring down or the terrain makes walking rather difficult (I don’t do climbing; that would be a rather different story).
Abandoned Railway Bridge
The winter is gone, at least for now. On a beautiful day, I again drove my car south just a few kilometers to the village of Tudorf.