New Zealand – pearls of nature part II
The second part of the report from a fascinating journey around New Zealand, during which the author – Wiesław Cypryś – visited not only the most famous attractions in this extraordinary country, but also delved into less frequented but equally breathtaking areas.
After driving about 70 km to Rotorua for the night, we set off to another area of phenomena that you absolutely must visit in New Zealand – geothermal. It is home to geysers, mudflats, thermal pools, waterfalls, forests and sulphur springs. The most famous geyser, Lady Knox, spews a mixture of water and steam up to 20 m high at exactly 10:15 in the morning. Lest anyone think that nature works with such precision, a park employee pours some powder down its throat before the designated minute of eruption, which causes this reaction. The gathered people take photos and record the scene as if they were witnesses to an unprecedented phenomenon. If anyone has seen the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, this scene will not make any impression on them.
What we had seen so far did not require any special physical effort, so it was time to use our muscles. In the evening, after dinner, we prepared for a 20-kilometer exhausting trek in the Tongarino National Park, which had to be set off early in the morning, as the route takes 8-9 hours. When everything was ready, we checked the website of the facility to see if there was any new information, because earlier it was reported that the air temperature would drop below zero at night and light snow would fall. The forecast for the day was not the best either. It was supposed to rain. As a result, the park management decided to close the route. The justification was that often tourists set off on the trail without appropriate footwear, clothing and equipment, who had no experience and overestimated their strength. We accepted this news with a heavy heart and as an alternative, we drove around Lake Te Whaiau.
The forecast proved accurate: it rained almost all day long. The sun only came out occasionally, allowing us to get out of the car and take pictures of the beautiful forested hills.
The next stop on our North Island journey was a trip to the Waitomo Caves. These are not ordinary underground passages, of which there are plenty on the globe. This is a phenomenon on a global scale, as they are only found in Australia and New Zealand. The main attraction here is a boat ride through a cave of glowworms. You sail in complete darkness to get a better look at this one-of-a-kind phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of glowworms hang on the ceilings, looking from a distance like stars in a cloudless sky. Photos and videos do not convey what you experience when you see them with your own eyes.
This was one of our last stops on the North Island, but we had to return to Auckland (about 180 km) for an overnight stay, which was close to the airport, so we could return the car before dawn and fly to Queenstown on the South Island.
After landing, we repeated the maneuver from the first stage of the journey, i.e. we borrowed a car. Since we had almost 200 km to cover and it looked like it was going to rain heavily, and we didn't want to travel on a winding, heavily traveled road in such conditions, we decided to stop in the city for a moment and quickly drive to the town of Te Anau, where a beautiful house was waiting for us and where we found the best accommodation on the entire trip. But it also cost us the most.
The choice of town also turned out to be a good move, as the most important attraction of the trip – Milford Sound – was 120 km away, not 290 km from Queenstown, where most tourists start from and where tour buses leave from early in the morning.
Milford Sound is located in Fiordland National Park, the largest of New Zealand's 13 national parks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay was formed during the last ice age - a glacier flowing into the sea carved a deep trench. After the glacier retreated, the valley was flooded by the waters of the Tasman Sea. The bay, which is almost 20 km long at its longest, is surrounded by rock formations reaching an average of 1,200 meters. The most famous elevation - the Elephant - is 1,717 meters high and indeed has the outline of this animal.
We knew that Milford Sound is the rainiest region in the country and one of the rainiest in the world. It rains here 183 days a year. It was supposed to pour heavily on the day we were there, but contrary to statistics, the sun was shining and only occasionally clouds appeared in the sky. To fully experience the beauty of this place, you have to take a 2-hour boat ride that sails under numerous waterfalls, cliffs, rocks and passes. I can honestly say that this is one of the most amazing visual experiences of my life, one that I will never be able to describe in words.
The next two days were devoted to hiking, which were on our route. The first one had to be reached by 230 km on a typical, two-way road, which was mostly used by tourists. The 7.5 km trail, considered demanding, allowed for two options: to reach the peak or to walk around it. We chose the second, because it seemed more attractive and less tiring. With breaks for rest and admiring the nature, the circuit took us less than four hours.
The second march was also preceded by a long drive (210 km), which led through picturesque hills, in my opinion, the most geologically diverse of the entire journey. We arrived at the free parking lot quite early, but it was almost full. Fortunately, we squeezed in between two cars, whose drivers had thoughtlessly parked their vehicles at large intervals.
We were in the Hooker Valley of Mount Cook National Park (also known as Aoraki in Maori). It may sound like a stuck gramophone record, but walking through it is another must-see on a trip to New Zealand. A 10-kilometer hike on almost flat terrain (the difference in elevation does not exceed 125 meters) is a pleasant walk for a hiker. You walk between snow-capped mountains, of which Mount Cook is the highest peak in the country (3724 meters above sea level), streams, lakes and glaciers. At the end of it, you reach Hooker Lake, where the surrounding panorama is breathtaking. We sat on sun-warmed stones gazing at the majestic peaks and did not think about moving from there. But the most magnificent views have to be said goodbye. With a heavy heart, we returned to the car to go to Queenstown, where our adventure with the pearl of nature ended.
Author of text and photos: Wiesław Cypryś
The second part of the report from a fascinating journey around New Zealand, during which the author – Wiesław Cypryś – visited not only the most famous attractions in this extraordinary country, but also delved into less frequented but equally breathtaking areas.
After driving about 70 km to Rotorua for the night, we set off to another area of phenomena that you absolutely must visit in New Zealand – geothermal. It is home to geysers, mudflats, thermal pools, waterfalls, forests and sulphur springs. The most famous geyser, Lady Knox, spews a mixture of water and steam up to 20 m high at exactly 10:15 in the morning. Lest anyone think that nature works with such precision, a park employee pours some powder down its throat before the designated minute of eruption, which causes this reaction. The gathered people take photos and record the scene as if they were witnesses to an unprecedented phenomenon. If anyone has seen the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, this scene will not make any impression on them.
What we had seen so far did not require any special physical effort, so it was time to use our muscles. In the evening, after dinner, we prepared for a 20-kilometer exhausting trek in the Tongarino National Park, which had to be set off early in the morning, as the route takes 8-9 hours. When everything was ready, we checked the website of the facility to see if there was any new information, because earlier it was reported that the air temperature would drop below zero at night and light snow would fall. The forecast for the day was not the best either. It was supposed to rain. As a result, the park management decided to close the route. The justification was that often tourists set off on the trail without appropriate footwear, clothing and equipment, who had no experience and overestimated their strength. We accepted this news with a heavy heart and as an alternative, we drove around Lake Te Whaiau.
The forecast proved accurate: it rained almost all day long. The sun only came out occasionally, allowing us to get out of the car and take pictures of the beautiful forested hills.
The next stop on our North Island journey was a trip to the Waitomo Caves. These are not ordinary underground passages, of which there are plenty on the globe. This is a phenomenon on a global scale, as they are only found in Australia and New Zealand. The main attraction here is a boat ride through a cave of glowworms. You sail in complete darkness to get a better look at this one-of-a-kind phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of glowworms hang on the ceilings, looking from a distance like stars in a cloudless sky. Photos and videos do not convey what you experience when you see them with your own eyes.
This was one of our last stops on the North Island, but we had to return to Auckland (about 180 km) for an overnight stay, which was close to the airport, so we could return the car before dawn and fly to Queenstown on the South Island.
After landing, we repeated the maneuver from the first stage of the journey, i.e. we borrowed a car. Since we had almost 200 km to cover and it looked like it was going to rain heavily, and we didn't want to travel on a winding, heavily traveled road in such conditions, we decided to stop in the city for a moment and quickly drive to the town of Te Anau, where a beautiful house was waiting for us and where we found the best accommodation on the entire trip. But it also cost us the most.
The choice of town also turned out to be a good move, as the most important attraction of the trip – Milford Sound – was 120 km away, not 290 km from Queenstown, where most tourists start from and where tour buses leave from early in the morning.
Milford Sound is located in Fiordland National Park, the largest of New Zealand's 13 national parks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay was formed during the last ice age - a glacier flowing into the sea carved a deep trench. After the glacier retreated, the valley was flooded by the waters of the Tasman Sea. The bay, which is almost 20 km long at its longest, is surrounded by rock formations reaching an average of 1,200 meters. The most famous elevation - the Elephant - is 1,717 meters high and indeed has the outline of this animal.
We knew that Milford Sound is the rainiest region in the country and one of the rainiest in the world. It rains here 183 days a year. It was supposed to pour heavily on the day we were there, but contrary to statistics, the sun was shining and only occasionally clouds appeared in the sky. To fully experience the beauty of this place, you have to take a 2-hour boat ride that sails under numerous waterfalls, cliffs, rocks and passes. I can honestly say that this is one of the most amazing visual experiences of my life, one that I will never be able to describe in words.
The next two days were devoted to hiking, which were on our route. The first one had to be reached by 230 km on a typical, two-way road, which was mostly used by tourists. The 7.5 km trail, considered demanding, allowed for two options: to reach the peak or to walk around it. We chose the second, because it seemed more attractive and less tiring. With breaks for rest and admiring the nature, the circuit took us less than four hours.
The second march was also preceded by a long drive (210 km), which led through picturesque hills, in my opinion, the most geologically diverse of the entire journey. We arrived at the free parking lot quite early, but it was almost full. Fortunately, we squeezed in between two cars, whose drivers had thoughtlessly parked their vehicles at large intervals.
We were in the Hooker Valley of Mount Cook National Park (also known as Aoraki in Maori). It may sound like a stuck gramophone record, but walking through it is another must-see on a trip to New Zealand. A 10-kilometer hike on almost flat terrain (the difference in elevation does not exceed 125 meters) is a pleasant walk for a hiker. You walk between snow-capped mountains, of which Mount Cook is the highest peak in the country (3724 meters above sea level), streams, lakes and glaciers. At the end of it, you reach Hooker Lake, where the surrounding panorama is breathtaking. We sat on sun-warmed stones gazing at the majestic peaks and did not think about moving from there. But the most magnificent views have to be said goodbye. With a heavy heart, we returned to the car to go to Queenstown, where our adventure with the pearl of nature ended.
Author of text and photos: Wiesław Cypryś
The second part of the report from a fascinating journey around New Zealand, during which the author – Wiesław Cypryś – visited not only the most famous attractions in this extraordinary country, but also delved into less frequented but equally breathtaking areas.
After driving about 70 km to Rotorua for the night, we set off to another area of phenomena that you absolutely must visit in New Zealand – geothermal. It is home to geysers, mudflats, thermal pools, waterfalls, forests and sulphur springs. The most famous geyser, Lady Knox, spews a mixture of water and steam up to 20 m high at exactly 10:15 in the morning. Lest anyone think that nature works with such precision, a park employee pours some powder down its throat before the designated minute of eruption, which causes this reaction. The gathered people take photos and record the scene as if they were witnesses to an unprecedented phenomenon. If anyone has seen the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, this scene will not make any impression on them.
What we had seen so far did not require any special physical effort, so it was time to use our muscles. In the evening, after dinner, we prepared for a 20-kilometer exhausting trek in the Tongarino National Park, which had to be set off early in the morning, as the route takes 8-9 hours. When everything was ready, we checked the website of the facility to see if there was any new information, because earlier it was reported that the air temperature would drop below zero at night and light snow would fall. The forecast for the day was not the best either. It was supposed to rain. As a result, the park management decided to close the route. The justification was that often tourists set off on the trail without appropriate footwear, clothing and equipment, who had no experience and overestimated their strength. We accepted this news with a heavy heart and as an alternative, we drove around Lake Te Whaiau.
The forecast proved accurate: it rained almost all day long. The sun only came out occasionally, allowing us to get out of the car and take pictures of the beautiful forested hills.
The next stop on our North Island journey was a trip to the Waitomo Caves. These are not ordinary underground passages, of which there are plenty on the globe. This is a phenomenon on a global scale, as they are only found in Australia and New Zealand. The main attraction here is a boat ride through a cave of glowworms. You sail in complete darkness to get a better look at this one-of-a-kind phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of glowworms hang on the ceilings, looking from a distance like stars in a cloudless sky. Photos and videos do not convey what you experience when you see them with your own eyes.
This was one of our last stops on the North Island, but we had to return to Auckland (about 180 km) for an overnight stay, which was close to the airport, so we could return the car before dawn and fly to Queenstown on the South Island.
After landing, we repeated the maneuver from the first stage of the journey, i.e. we borrowed a car. Since we had almost 200 km to cover and it looked like it was going to rain heavily, and we didn't want to travel on a winding, heavily traveled road in such conditions, we decided to stop in the city for a moment and quickly drive to the town of Te Anau, where a beautiful house was waiting for us and where we found the best accommodation on the entire trip. But it also cost us the most.
The choice of town also turned out to be a good move, as the most important attraction of the trip – Milford Sound – was 120 km away, not 290 km from Queenstown, where most tourists start from and where tour buses leave from early in the morning.
Milford Sound is located in Fiordland National Park, the largest of New Zealand's 13 national parks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay was formed during the last ice age - a glacier flowing into the sea carved a deep trench. After the glacier retreated, the valley was flooded by the waters of the Tasman Sea. The bay, which is almost 20 km long at its longest, is surrounded by rock formations reaching an average of 1,200 meters. The most famous elevation - the Elephant - is 1,717 meters high and indeed has the outline of this animal.
We knew that Milford Sound is the rainiest region in the country and one of the rainiest in the world. It rains here 183 days a year. It was supposed to pour heavily on the day we were there, but contrary to statistics, the sun was shining and only occasionally clouds appeared in the sky. To fully experience the beauty of this place, you have to take a 2-hour boat ride that sails under numerous waterfalls, cliffs, rocks and passes. I can honestly say that this is one of the most amazing visual experiences of my life, one that I will never be able to describe in words.
The next two days were devoted to hiking, which were on our route. The first one had to be reached by 230 km on a typical, two-way road, which was mostly used by tourists. The 7.5 km trail, considered demanding, allowed for two options: to reach the peak or to walk around it. We chose the second, because it seemed more attractive and less tiring. With breaks for rest and admiring the nature, the circuit took us less than four hours.
The second march was also preceded by a long drive (210 km), which led through picturesque hills, in my opinion, the most geologically diverse of the entire journey. We arrived at the free parking lot quite early, but it was almost full. Fortunately, we squeezed in between two cars, whose drivers had thoughtlessly parked their vehicles at large intervals.
We were in the Hooker Valley of Mount Cook National Park (also known as Aoraki in Maori). It may sound like a stuck gramophone record, but walking through it is another must-see on a trip to New Zealand. A 10-kilometer hike on almost flat terrain (the difference in elevation does not exceed 125 meters) is a pleasant walk for a hiker. You walk between snow-capped mountains, of which Mount Cook is the highest peak in the country (3724 meters above sea level), streams, lakes and glaciers. At the end of it, you reach Hooker Lake, where the surrounding panorama is breathtaking. We sat on sun-warmed stones gazing at the majestic peaks and did not think about moving from there. But the most magnificent views have to be said goodbye. With a heavy heart, we returned to the car to go to Queenstown, where our adventure with the pearl of nature ended.
Author of text and photos: Wiesław Cypryś
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