Something Different

By Tom
Nelson, New Zealand

Normally when I'm planning a backpacking trip, I have one destination landscape in mind: mountains.  The bigger the mountains, the better the hike.  So when Julia suggested we do a five-day backpack on the Heaphy Trek in the northwest corner of the South Island, my intial reaction was "That's not where the biggest mountains are -why would we hike there?"

It didn't take long for me to realize how wrong I was.  The Heaphy starts on the coast, winding along deserted beaches with pounding surf.  It then turns inland and starts gradually climbing up through blindingly green coastal rainforest until reaching some low-alpine meadows.  The trail finishes by climbing over a mountain pass with views of the northernmost peaks of the Southern Alps before descending towards Cook Straight.  I was pleasantly surprised at the varied terrain and how different each day's hike was.  By the time we reached the mountain views, they were the least impressive part of the trip.

The sun sets over the Tasman Sea near our first night's camping site

Julia wearing a bright green t-shirt to blend in with her bright green surroundings

Not only was the scenery beautiful, but the weather was perfect -sunny and cool- and this trek has been designed as a mountain bike trail so there were no steps up or down the entire way.  No painful knee joints or sore quad muscles.  We hiked for hours and gained several hundred meters without even realizing we were going uphill.

A misty morning at the Heaphy Trek's alpine meadows

Some stupid mountains

New Zealand has no native land mammals so the birds are practically tame at times, having evolved without predators.  At every campsite we were joined by the mischievous weka who prowled around our feet and searched our bags for food scraps.  A sign on one of the huts said "Please shut the door and don't shut the weka in!"  While resting along the trail, a small, fearless songbird jumped all over Julia tugging at her shoelace and exploring my backpack.  

The weka scrambles between our feet, looking for a handout 

Sorry buddy, those aren't worms

Now that we're off the trail, we have cleaned our clothes and ourselves and slept a night in a real bed.  For the next week we're renting a car to travel around the Nelson and Malborough regions, sampling the local wines and micro-brew beers, hiking, biking, and enjoying the sunniest region in the country before we head up to the North Island.   

Julia catches a beautiful shot of some morning dew hanging off the grass

A spider's web on an old post