Tramping New Zealand

DAY 7 - Isthmus Peak Track

It's another perfect day weather-wise — even warmer than yesterday; so we have to put it to good use.  I manage to upload my camera files here at the hostel, for a change.  The magic hour is about 10 a.m., after most have departed for the day or checked out.  More bandwidth for me.

An hour or so north of town is one of trails in the brochures, advertising nice views of the big lakes.  We'll try that one.  It's a long climb to the top, but we aren't planning necessarily to do the whole thing anyway.

That may or may not be our peak

Right off the bat, something is amiss.  Dave says that his legs and feet are drowning in lactic acid, and I am feeling a bit sub-par myself.  Having started this trip on the second notch of my belt, I now can cinch down to the fourth notch, which is delightful.  Perhaps I need to eat a bit more, though, to keep up my strength.

These guys are sharing a bush

Lake Hawea is beautiful

We had expected to go upward, not traverse a meadow

You wanted a photo of me?  Enjoy!

Thistles are the same everywhere

This track is relentlessly steep and — except for the expansive views — otherwise unattractive.  After less than two miles of walking and just 900 feet of climbing, Dave and I conclude that this is not why we came to New Zealand.

Time for a group shot

Heading back

A parting view of Lake Hawea

This rental company provides neat cars

Okay, that's over; but we still would like to walk a bit more, perhaps alongside a stream or something.  Proceeding northward toward the park, we stop at one wayside; but the trail is posted as private property, and we must register somewhere in order to use it.  That is deemed unacceptable, of course; so we get back into the car.

Around the next corner we are delayed for fifteen minutes while a helicopter transports water from the lake beside us up to the top of the cliff directly above.  I guess they don't want to drop a tub of water on us.

Not a bad action shot, taken from the car

Continuing north of the Blue Pools area that was visited a few days ago, eventually we encounter an attraction that is off our map, but which I remember reading about at the park visitor centre.

Fantail Falls

In the river rocks, visitors have constructed a cairn garden — the biggest one I have seen.

They will be gone in a few months, only to rise again

Someone has left a precious little homemade seashell shrine for me to photograph:

The work of a little girl, most likely

I love finding stuff like this

I built this one on a fallen tree branch

At the next bridge is an opportunity for a couple more self-portraits:

Haast River

Our final stop of the day:

The 99-foot Thunder Falls are delightful

Base of the falls