Three Weeks Hiking in New Zealand

As I have said, five hikes. It was all we were here for. Interspersed with a few rest days, we tackled the Abel Tasman Track, Milford Track, Kepler Track, Humpridge Track and the Routeburn Track. None were too difficult, this was an introductory tour of New Zealand’s trails.

That said, I wanted just average weather, I wanted to experience the wet feet I so deeply feared (due to that little friend in the fridge so to say.) It was, like I said, wet, so I guess my wish was granted.

It's mid February now, it's taken me a while to update my blog, an entry for each of the five walks can be found below or on previous pages, but here are some quick links, since I've been doing some hiking since I got back from New Zealand:

• The Abel Tasman Track blog entry
  
• The Milford Track blog entry
  
• The Kepler Track blog entry
  
• The Humprdige Track blog entry
  
• The Routeburn Track blog entry
  

Here are some of the best photos:



Here are some awards for our NZ walking experiences:

• The best walk - the Routeburn Track
  
• The highest ascent - the Humpridge Track
  
• The wettest walk - Milford Track
  
• The muddiest walk - Humpridge Track
  
• Best animal encounter, swimming with wild dolphins at Port Craig on the Humpridge Track
  
• Sunniest walk - the Abel Tasman Track
  
• Best beaches - Abel Tasman Track
  
• Best free upgrade - a heli ride through Clinton Valley on the Milford Track
  
• The coldest walk - the Kepler Track
  
• Best friends made on a walk - the Kepler Track
  
• Most anticipated Iced Coffee - after the Humpridge Track
  

For reasons - perhaps somewhat inexplicable, perhaps not - I took few photos. In the first week I realised that the photos I were taking were lousy. I had invested in a soft plastic casing for my camera, which makes it waterproof, sandproof and dustproof. I figured a very useful item for a wet New Zealand climate. It's been very hard to see through the plastic to see the photos on the digital screen, and now, I release, it has also been very hard for the camera to see through it as well. Most of my photos look like they have been taken on a densely foggy day, blurring, low contrast and little shadow detail. I wish I had read this review here prior to buying it. Unless you want the case for water use (snorkelling, kayaking) or to take photos where it would not normally be possible (extreme weather), don't bother.

Now I realise -- well for one thing, I shouldn't have bothered with the camera casing -- I should have taken more photos, to show friends and family. Now that it is mid February, I can say one thing, I'm back in love with taking photos.

Sample photos taken with Aquapac case (not corrected in Photoshop):