Hiking in Arthur's Pass & Tiki Touring the West Coast of South Island

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday Auckland! Yay for the long weekend! I had already planned  a trip a while ago to do hikes in South Island during Auckland anniversary which fell on the end of January. So, leaving from work I went straight to airport and just over an hour later I arrived at Christchurch airport. I then picked up my car rental and off I went to Arthur's Pass, a high country in the Southern Alps that is sandwiched between Canterbury and the West Coast. Just under two hours drive cruising through the beautiful mountain ranges, I arrived at my backpackers called YHA Mountain House. After settled in and got to know my dorm roommates, I went to bed.  Unfortunately, I didn't sleep very well that night. Reason being, I was excited with the hike I wanted to do the next day!

 

 

View from walking tracks

 

Arthur's Pass National Park

 

 

When the morning came, I quickly had my breakfast, packed my lunch and headed to the information centre to find out about the weather condition and detailed track information. I had one full day here so I decided to do what it's called the Grand Tour. It's basically a combination of few walking tracks around Arthur's Pass which offer diverse landscape around the National Park. One time you could be walking through moss covered trees, then another track took you to an open grass that was so barren with valleys around, then side track leading to a misty Devil's Punchbowl Falls and then scenic meadows with backdrop of snow-capped mountain of Mt Rolleston that sits over 2000m above sea level. This walk ranging between 4 to 6 hours. It is heaven for nature photography so I took my time as I was stopping between tracks for photo opportunities! The scenery was quite enticing for sure and with the mint weather, it was just great combo! It was truly an effortless beauty. I just felt so bliss and peaceful to be in the wilderness, just taking all in and listened to the mother nature sounds around me and smelling the fresh air, drinking cold water from clear blue river that spread around the tracks. What a refreshment to quench my thirst! If you don't have much time in Arthur's Pass, this walk is highly recommended.

 

Mt Rolleston

 

 

Devil's Punchbowl Falls

The next early morning, after having the most important meal of the day, I left Arthur's Pass and made my way to the West Coast. About 10 mins after leaving the national park, I stopped at Otira Viaduct Lookout which is a good spot to get birds eye view of Otira Valley and this place is also known as Kea's playground. They are the only mountain parrots in the world and are known for their intelligence and ability to survive the harsh environment around Southern Alps of New Zealand. This was one of my reasons to visit Arthur's Pass, to see them in the wild. As I pulled up my car to the car park, three of them started to approach. Two of them went straight to the rubber covered radio antenna on top of my car and the other one was curious with the tyre. Despite the cold, I sat on the asphalt floor for a while and watching their behaviour, such interesting birds! Another fact is that they are quite cheeky, they are known to take food from people down at a cafe in the national park, there's actually signs posted at the cafe windows that says 'No refund is given if your food is taken by Kea' Yes, you've been warned!

 

 

Curious Kea

Cheeky Kea

After spending time with native birds, I continued driving along highway 73. It was a misty morning and fog just covering the road, thick enough that I felt like driving to a cloud. So for about half hour the traffic has slowed down to around 40km/hour and motorists took more precautions when driving to the conditions. Finally the fog faded away, I was glad to accelerate back to the normal speed and enjoying the postcard perfect view of mountain ranges around me. Approaching the West Coast, I did tiki tour down to Hokitika Gorge. The walk here was quite short, through the bush and crossing the swing bridge that was built above turquoise looking river. The colour of the water was gorgeous! It was mix of rock flour, melted glacier ice and river water. The river is always changing apparently depending on the weather and how much rock flour has been carried down. So it's not always turquoise looking, at times it looks crystal clear but it can also look muddy grey. 

Hokitika Gorge

 

Interesting Rock Formation - Punakaiki

 

 

 

From Hokitika Gorge I headed north to Punakaiki, about two hours away. On the way there, I did detour to a place called Tree Top Walkway just 15 mins from Hokitika town centre, however with entrance fee of $38, I skipped it in the end. I just didn't think it was worth the money as there were so many amazing walks and hikes that you can do for free. Even though this walkway is more about human engineering so I supposed there's lots of effort put into it. In the end I still thought that the admission fee was quite steep for a walkway. 


 

Jagged cliff alongside ocean road towards Punakaiki

 

 

Jagged cliff alongside ocean road towards Punakaiki


Moving on to Punakaiki, the drive alongside the beach was absolutely stunning! Driving on the coastal road with picturesque rocky beach on my left and jagged cliffs on the right. I made couple of stops at lookouts along the way for some photos. Finally arrived at campground, I pitched my tent in the corner tucked away under big tree giving nice shades and cool breeze. Once done, I went on a leisurely walk to the infamous "Pancake Rocks." The way this limestone rocks shaped are truly like a stack of pancakes. What a breathtaking creation of Mother Nature! On a high tide there's blowholes between the rocks and creating a scene that shouldn't be missed. I made a return trip that evening half an hour before sunset and joined in with other sunset seekers and watched as the sun was set on the West Coast. Spectacular evening it was! The last light from the sun gave good lighting to Pancake Rocks, made it look even more dramatic. 

 

 

Looking out from my tent in Punakaiki

Pancake Rocks





Sunset in Punakaiki

 

The following day I drove back to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass as I wanted to do another hike before catching my flight back to Auckland that evening. I was hiking Scott's track which also quite popular amongst the hikers. Due to time constraints I did the walk until the bush line, in my opinion it was already quite strenuous and constantly up hill. The track was covered with rocks, tree roots and at times even some mini falls. I had to watch my steps all the time. On the way up, I made a lunch stop overlooking the rugged Southern Alps. It was an 'invitation' I just couldn't resist! What a place to have my cold pasta! It was so serene with occasional sounds of Kea from a distance and majestic view in the heart of the Alps right in front of me. What a moment to be thankful for. 


 

Looking out to Southern Alps

 

 

My lunch date with Southern Alps

 

Back from the bush line, I descended back to the village and made my way to Christchurch airport with a quick stop for a flat white in Springfield, a little town about three  quarter of an hour before Christchurch as I was quite sleepy and needed caffeine fix badly. 

 

South Island, it's always a pleasure going back to see you! I know I'll be back sooner than later. 

 

"And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling." - Shanti

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Gorgeous sunset in Punakaiki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pancake Rocks - Punakaiki

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Ocean Road - West Coast

Southern Alps



Statistics ($NZD) :

Return flight Auckland-Christchurch-Auckland: $108 (Jetstar)

Car Rental 3 days : $189 incl. Full Insurance Cover (Rent A Dent company)

YHA Mountain House Backpackers-2x nights in Dorm: $56

Punakaiki Beach Camp-1x night Non Powered site Tent : $17

Walking tracks: FREE

Backpacking around North Queensland!

 

 

Hmm so where can I go for 12 days? I was browsing internet months ago planning my upcoming Xmas & NY trip. My curiosity was leading towards Northern Queensland, Australia. The distance is actually not too far from NZ and the climate mostly quite hot there. Whitehaven beach? Why not! So I made up my mind to go to Australia’s number 1 beach, also been numerously nominated as one of the best beaches in the world! I don’t think I need more reason.

 

Arriving in Proserpine, Whitsunday Coast Airport to be exact on Christmas day, already I was greeted with scorching heat and it was only 8am. Took a shuttle bus that dropped me at my hostel’s doorsteps, YHA Airlie Beach it was. I always stay in Girls dorm if possible. I enjoy staying in the dorm coz it feels like a slumber party every night. Yes there’s lack of privacy, but it’s always fun and enjoyable to meet other travellers and sharing stories at any time of the day. The girls in my dorm at YHA Airlie Beach were full of life and characters. We had pizza night together, drinking wine from paper cup and, having one or two cocktails and feasting on seafood, tasting the goodness of what’s Airlie beach got to offer. Girls, it was such a great times that I felt like we’ve known each other before! Thanks for your company! #whenandwhere #room22

 
 

Airlie Beach is the gateway to Whitsunday group of islands, there are about 74 islands scattered around here. One of them is where Whitehaven beach located. I went there on a boat converted raft called Ocean Rafting. The weather was unfortunately pretty bad with wind blowing up to 40 knots. Everyone on the raft felt like we were flying on the ocean which I supposed made the ride more adventurous! We did short bush walk to get to the lookout inlet point where you can admire the view of Whitehaven. I could only see few of the sandy bars  from here due to the poor weather condition. Still, it was a memorable to be there and to step on sand that were so pure and white containing 90% silica!

 

We continued cruising around Whitsundays and made couple of stops to snorkel, chasing fish and sneaking on turtle! Lunch stop was next, we berthed at one of the quite bays of Whitehaven beach and there we saw tens of stingrays swarming so close to the shore! It was pretty intimidating! Though the captain told us that the rays would just go away if we went swimming. No pressure ha!

 

I went for my first ever Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef as part of snorkelling trip I took the next day. I must say that conquering fear felt really good afterwards. Yes I felt nervous and sh*t scared to dive for the first time, but the instructor was very calm and so after leaving the dive base under the Pontoon to the open sea, it was just effortless and I felt like I was entering a whole new world that I was about to discover. Then there was Wally! He’s a massive blue Maori Wrasse fish, local resident of the reef, I must say that he’s quite a “celebrity”. So happy to see and pat this friendly guy as he swam so close to us, at some point he just came out of nowhere right on my face! Wally, you truly made this dive much more enjoyable and entertaining! I miss you already, your sleek move and beautiful marble eyes.

 

 

Then I went hiking with Abi, a girl from my dorm as my Kayak trip was cancelled due to strong wind and choppy sea. As recommended by our hostel Receptionist, we made our way to Honeyeater Track. It was about 4 hours return hike with pretty steep incline on the way up to the lookout. This track was branching out to other different tracks that can be done on multiple days. We were happy enough to do until the lookout. The view was rewarding from the top, we had lunch while looking down on fifty shades of blue and group of islands that surrounding Airlie Beach. On the way down, we were walking faster as how the gravity works and we didn’t realize there was a snake just inches from Abi’s feet that she almost stomp on it! its colour was blended with leaves and dirt, sort of brownish and greenish colour, made it hard to spot from a distance. All I heard was Abi screaming then I was screaming too! The snake wasn’t that wide but it’s pretty long. Its also stopped and wobbled its head instead of made a run to the bush. Looks like this snake also stunned to see us or was our screaming deafening him? Funny to reminisce the moment now but not when we were there! Aussie bush is pretty wild aye.

 
 

After about a week in Airlie Beach, I took Greyhound bus further north to Townsville then ferry across to Magnetic Island aka “Maggie”. I chose Maggie as I read online that this little gem known  to be the biggest population of Koala in Australia and in the world. They said about 800 koalas are living here. There are also other wildlife, huge variety of birds, kangaroo and rock wallaby. There are plenty of walking treks all over the island ranging from half hour to 3 hours. I stayed at Arcadia Beach House which didn’t feel like it was a hostel as it felt so homey and even the dorm room that I stayed had only single beds instead of the usual bunk beds. It felt good for a while not to have someone on top or below you moving around in the middle of the night and wake you up haha!

 
 

I rode a bus on the first day and by looking at the timetable, the bus only runs every 45 minutes to an hour as their schedule was made to meet the ferry arrivals/departure from Townsville. It felt like a long wait already because when you missed one, it took ages for another one to arrive. I waited at the bus stop after finishing my walk at The Forts, but after got annoyed by a huge fly that wouldn't go away, I decided to hitchhike. I put my hand up and not long after these 2 friendly ladies pulled over, they were kind enough to give me a lift. As we started chatting, I found out that they were originally from Spain, one of them actually living in Melbourne. Since my day was pretty flexible, they offered if I would like to join them for the rest of the day. Without thinking I said yes! So we ended up spending the rest of that day together. Swimming in Horseshoe Bay, lurking on sleeping Koalas, feeding Rock Wallabies around the old jetty in Alma Bay. Before I met them, when I did my walk at The Forts, I was hoping to spot a Koala or two but didn’t see any. I was determined to do the walk again to have a second look but then a luck stroked by meeting these 2 lovely ladies and I was able to see the Koalas on different place. Amazing how the Universe works it magic. Be careful what you wish for, because Universe works in a mysterious way and it conspires to help you!



The next couple of days I decided to rent scooter and with my bright yellow ride, I went zooming around Maggie from one bay to another, exploring every nook and cranny of the island and spending a good “Koality” time going back and forth and just sat in silence watching these animals behaving, from lounging on the tree trunks, napping, pooping, scratching, moving about 50cm then went back to sleep again, to watching me as I was watching them. Hmm who's the spectacle now? Overall, I was so happy to finally see Koalas in the wilderness!

  

My four days in Maggie went too fast but it’s always like that when you're having good times. I took bus back to Airlie Beach, stayed for one night then caught my flight back to Auckland via Brisbane.

   

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” – Dr. Seuss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Short Affair With Eua Island

I was recommended this island by another traveler whom I met on my first visit to Tonga. Thank you, Maxim! Since I like to do some hikes, this place seems interesting for me to give it a go. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first visit in this country so called "Friendly Islands", so a return trip was always in the back of my mind. And thanks to Air NZ who always offers great deals to the Pacific countries, it made things easier. I love every time I'm heading back to any countries in this region. The beach, climate, people, food, blissfulness, ahhh need to say more?

After I did my research such as booking accommodations and other logistics like tourist visa etc, the days went by and finally it was time I headed to the airport. To get to Eua Island, first I flew to Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa which is in the main island of Tongatapu. I opted to stay at the same backpackers I stayed last time, NOA Guesthouse as I had wonderful time staying here and it was great place to meet locals and other travelers. 

When I arrived at the hostel, much to my surprise, my host told me that my flight to Eua Island the next morning was cancelled due to "maintenance" issue. Thanks for keeping that information until last minute, Real Tonga airlines! Anyway, she then advised me to take the morning ferry from the wharf. The flight that I was supposed to be on was only 8 minutes flying time which makes one of the shortest commercial flight in the world! As I was taking ferry, it took like 4 hours as the ferry left according to the "island time" in the end. As I found a spot in the corner of communal cabin, I realized that it was a good thing that my flight was cancelled, otherwise I would have missed to be with the locals altogether in this ferry crossing. I rolled out my picnic blanket on the floor and mingled with the them for a while. I went out to breathe some fresh air and enjoyed the warm sun on my face also secretly hoping maybe spotting a Whale or two out there in the Pacific ocean. With no whale in sight, I went back inside, ate my packed lunch and had a nap afterwards. 

Arriving in Eua, it was hustle bustle as predicted, everyone tried to leave the ferry, people with their massive luggage and boxes were all over. In the crowds I tried to spot someone from my backpackers holding a paper with my name on it, since it was only 3 accommodations in the islands, I thought it wouldn't be hard to find my driver. My thought was wrong! I tried to shout the name of my backpackers amongst the crowd but no one seemed to respond. I approached a lady who was in the ferry with me and asked if I could use her phone to call my backpackers, we waited for a while after making the call, then we were circling the wharf looking for a grey van which we were advised earlier. The van caught our attention as it was approaching the wharf. It turned out that the driver was the cousin of the woman whom I borrowed the phone earlier! It's a small island after all.

I pitched my tent up as soon as I reached the backpackers. The camping area was lush and it has ample of space surrounded with tall coconut trees, hibiscus flowers and few hammocks around the property. I found my camp spot and the owner's brother, Matthew helped me to pitch my tent. It was nice of him even though I'm used to set it up on my own. The name of the place I was staying at is called Taina's Place. There are 12 dogs, 1 piglet, and 1 cat in the property. The dogs can be quite noisy, especially at night. After I settled in, I asked Matthew if there was a nice walk nearby I could go to and he recommended to go to Ha'aluma beach which is about 5 km directly south from Taina's place. Perfect! He offered to walk me there and on the way he climbed a coconut tree and fetched couple for us. Glad to be back in the Pacific when I tasted that mouthwatering coconut juice in my mouth! also it was a refreshment on the go! When we got to the beach, I had a dip in a rock pool while Matthew tried to look for some crabs. The beach itself was pretty rocky and protected by reef around it. I saw some colorful fishes swimming and hiding between the rocks. We stayed for a while until sunset, the sky was beautiful and quite picturesque, it gave a great effect when I took some photos as the rocks made it even more photogenic.

We walked back to the hostel and to our luck, a pickup truck pulled over and assuming that we needed a ride, he just pointed the back of his truck gesturing us to get in. Sweet we got a ride back! On the way to backpackers, we saw the sky changing color with pink-y, orange-y colors throwing in the mix. What a fine evening it was.

When I was back to my tent to get my stuff for showers, I was horrified with the look on its door. The dog was vandalizing my tent and broken my mosquito net door! One of 12 dogs, what's my luck to guess which one?! I told the host and she apologies afterwards and I told her not too worry about it, as I can still zip the main door of my tent. She didn't want to take more risk, having more damage the dogs were capable of doing, she moved me to the dorm room for the 3 nights I was there for the price of the camping. That was very nice of her.

 

I arranged to do some Whale watching and swimming before arriving in Tonga as I only had few days there. So the next morning, Kiko or as I called him "Whale Whisperer" since he is the man when it comes to spotting Whales in the vast ocean, with no technology frills whatsoever. It comes down to his experiences over the years and eagle eyes. He picked me up in this very old truck that morning that he had troubled to start the truck back up again when we were ready to leave! Looking at the state of the truck, it might have been as old if not older than him! and he's quite old. He took me to his house first to pick up his 2 sons who were also joining us in the boat. One was helping him navigating the Whales and the other was our guide when we were in the water with the whales. His boat was pretty small so that made this trip quite private. It was only me and Sara, a French girl who was also a Solo Traveler. What a coincidence to have met her in this tiny island in the middle of South Pacific. Sara used to lived in New Caledonia, a French territory country in the Pacific which is not far from Tonga. I offered her to stay with me in Auckland when she told me she was heading to New Zealand afterwards as it's her en-route trip to Tahiti in French Polynesia(country she's going to live after NZ). We enjoyed our time together in Tonga and NZ. We also have a very special memory together, which is the moments we shared when floating with our new "Gentle giants" friends, Humpback Whales. 

Those moments with the Whales, both Mother and Calf were really made us speechless. They made our hearts beat faster. When we locked eyes with them, it just melt my heart. We were very cautious with our distance to them however the calf which already at least 12 meters long, seemed to be very playful and its fluke could be just inches away from our faces! The mother was gently drifting about 5-10 meters below us, watching us from a distance. After a while they both drifted away, swimming back to the vast blue ocean. We had few stops and were in and out with the other whales. Our guide, Kiko first read the Whales' behavior and signaled us when it was OK to jump in as they are wild animals after all. Female Humpacks take thousands of kilometers long journey from Antartica on an annual migration to much warmer water in order to give birth in the South Pacific. Tongan ocean has become their nursery for few months for the calf to grow healthily and relying solely on its mother's very rich milk. When they're strong enough about 4 months old, both mother and calf make a long trip back to Antarctica. Before it all happened, I thought experiencing moments like this was too good to be true and only something I could watch on National Geographic channel. Instead, it was very real and surreal to say the least! 

With only a day to spare, Sara and I along with Matthew who was our guide that day, went hiking around Eua National Park. During the hikes, we made few stops at a lookout that was overlooking spectacular cliffs and coastline. Another spots were couple of Big Banyan trees and few caves; couple of caves that were really stood out was the Rats Cave where we climbed down onto a ledge and as it was sitting on a cliff, from the cave's lookout we were presented with incredible view of the coastline. Some people stayed here overnights. Just don't rollover when you sleep that's all! The view was amazing however it could be tricky to get to the lookout spot of the cave. Another cave was worth a visit too as it has 25 chambers inside and the King used to live there. We had to bring torch and did rock climbing to get inside the cave. Beautiful chambers with lots of limestone caverns all around. 

On our hikes, Matthew cut a tree trunk and we had sip of water dripping from it. As for our lunch we were eating some paw paw(it's like mini papaya) that grows wildly in the national park. You don't go thirsty and hungry in this hike that's for sure! Sarapee was one of the dogs from Taina's place who joined us on this hike. She seems to be an explorer too! One time she did pick up a dead bird and brought to us. That's not dinner, Sarapee!

My ferry back to main island of Tongatapu left at a crazy hours the next morning, it was 5 am departure. In such a sleepy little island, it was a sight to see all the crowds showing up that early. My host dropped me at the wharf that morning, with sleepy eyes, I bid goodbye to her and boarded the seems to be "chasing sunrise" ferry. I had arrangements with Sara to get me my ticket too when she bought hers that morning as her hostel just across the road from the wharf. We had lovely sunrise from the ferry on the way to main island. I felt like even this trip was rather short, but it was plentiful and oh the memories will remain for a very long time. 

There was really a lot to do in Eua Island, the place that was so underrated among other Pacific countries and islands. Its eco-tourism definitely one of many potentials of this hidden gem. If you're looking for off-beaten track kind of destination, you might want to consider Eua on your list.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

 

*Scroll down for statistics(Added to give you indication that sometimes it's cheaper to go to another country than traveling within New Zealand)

Statistics (Local currency: Tonga Pa'anga or TOP, however all expenses has been converted to NZD):

Return flight Auckland-Nuku'alofa-Auckland : $330NZD (carry-on only)
NOA Guesthouse : $19NZD/night for 1x Bed in Dorm Room
Return Ferry Nuku'alofa to Eua Island: $16NZD
Camping at Taina's Place Backpackers, Eua Island: $13NZD/night
Whale Swimming: $129NZD (Cheapest in all Tonga)
Local guide for all day hike: $25NZD(This was split between me and Sara so around $13NZD per person)
Taxi from Nuku'alofa to Airport: $25NZD(This also split between me and another traveler I met during ferry crossing)