A good resource for finding interesting and sometimes the best places to visit is fellow hikers. Rob Roy Glacier, part of the Aspiring mountain range, is a wonder we tried to hike some years ago but apparently lost our way. If nothing else, we are consistent. That’s what Jenni says, the ‘losing our way’ bit. However, it seems impossible because Mount Aspiring is at the end of the road. One drives on this highway from Wanaka and it literally ends at the mountain. Simple. The challenge is that for forty minutes, one ‘glides’ on a ‘washboard’ gravel road—that’s tough—which includes cattle grids and fords. Otherwise, it’s plain sailing.
As an aside, we met a charming couple on the Milford Track who are from Sri Lanka but live in Hamilton, that’s on the North Island. Our bias favors (heavily) the South Island over the more populous neighbor. Yesterday, while hiking up to the Rob Roy viewpoint, we bumped into the Rajanayaka’s. Although it seems like something small, it is very special meeting up with people we know, randomly. We crossed paths on the hike and some five hours later, spotted them again while walking in the town of Wanaka.
Last Shabbat, we took a longer than usual stroll along the lake and stopped to talk with an Irish couple. The British gentry visit the colonies on a regular basis to see how things are progressing. Unfortunately, we could not help them with a ride for their weary bones because of the ‘rest day’ but shouted across the parking lot to a departing shuttle that failed to stop. A kind fellow-hiker, obviously intimidated by our ‘tough-sounding’ voice, volunteered a ride. Nice!
We continued walking, met and began conversing with a family from Tennessee. The son is doing missionary work while waiting for the college year to begin. Mom and Dad are here to see how the youngster is progressing. (We should have sent our kids to this country so that we could have visited every three months to 'see how they were doing'.) The father grew up in San Diego.
An English family, we met on Iron Mountain on Sunday, could have acted in a theatre production. They gave us a rundown of their expectations of New Zealand while the son, clearly preferring to be in Queenstown for the nightlife rather than on the mountains, urged them to 'bring down the curtain'. What’s with people who are fixated with mountain peaks. Grow up already! What’s quite amusing for us is that many people want to share something with us, which is lovely; they often recommend favorite restaurants, bars and nightclubs for us to frequent. We have a long list to visit…in another lifetime.
New Zealand is not a ‘one trick show’ as far as the natural beauty is concerned. On the South Island, as in life, all one has to do is ‘look up’. After the weeks we have already spent savoring the delights, how could the Mount Aspiring experience compare. Not too bad, we say. In fact, it is such an awesome and magnificent sight, that it makes one wonder how so much beauty, mystery and spectacles can be concentrated in one place. We focused first on the blue sky, then the clouds, the mountain, glacier, myriad of waterfalls, trees, river, water flow, meadows, surrounding mountains, cattle, sheep, bridges…that was from one spot. The place is alive, dynamic and uplifting.
After a seven-mile hike with only 1,000 feet elevation gain, we were still feeling tired following the previous day's monster climb. Hopefully, our editor has a 'rest-day' planned although we wouldn't bet on it.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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