Elad’s blog

The Big Slip happened 21 years ago, in the middle of the summer. Heavy rain fell over Fiordland: up the valley, over half a meter was recorded within 24 hours; over the hill itself, additional amount of over 200 m”m accumulated during the same amount of time. Something was bound to happen. When it happened, it happened big: half the mountain collapsed, enormous trees broke like matches, the lake flooded, and a huge clearing in the forest - which takes over 10 minuts to cross - was formed. Oddly enough, this clearing is still there, and it was one of the main themes of the third day of the Kepler track, which I just finished.

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A Sqashum is a Possum that was run over by a car. This is not considered a bad thing in New Zealand. Actually, being the severest of all the state’s enemies, slaughtering of Possums is encouraged in NZ - the DOC gives 100 million dollars of its budget for this purpose only.

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The enchanted forest is located exactly half way between the equator and the south pole, at latitude 45 sharp, next to the west coast of New Zealand. It is mainly a beech forest, but the moss not only covers the trees completely but literally hangs down from them; the floor is covered with fallen leaves; small ferns fight each other whenever a bit of light penetrates; and fairies probably hide behind every tree - at least the atmosphere is such that you certainly look for them and expect to find them there. Officially, the place is called the first two days of the Milford Track.

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I have now reached the point in my travel where I decided it is time to go up. As my suicidal ambitions are not highly developed, certainly not to the point of jumping from a plane (they call it “skydiving”), I decided to do the next-best option, and jump off a cliff.

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Just a few pics, mainly from Abel Tasman track and the Franz-Josef Glacier.

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The Puzzling World puzzle museum; the lakes surrounding the town; the special cinema; the hikes in Mount Aspiring, just a stonethrow away. All and over, the town of Wanaka is not to be missed.

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A few years ago, when I was in swiss, I went to the Jungfraujoch glaceir. It is on the top of a mountain there, and you get to it by a cable car, if I am not mistaken. There is not much of a hiking there: a small walk in some dugout caves with ice-carved statues, and a balcony to a nice snow bed. How different from the Franz-Josef glacier, on which I hiked yesterday.

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The pub at the beer brewery contained 7 taps. Another type, the 8th, was served only in bottles. After giving each of us a glass of every single one from the 8 beers, the bartender left the room and told us to help ourselves for the next half an hour or so. Indeed, the tour at the brewery was a good one.

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We spent some time in Nelson arranging things - for example, I now have new shoes (not too good, but ones that will hopefully hold for a few months: at the prices here I rather have moderate shoes and then buy a new and better pair back in Israel - it is cheaper than buying here excellent shoes that will hold for years), and we cancelled the Routeburn track for the time being. Having cleared enough time to explore the country without rush, we left Nelson earlier today and headed towards the west coast, where we started driving south.

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When talking about New-Zealand, the impressions that used to go into my mind were of a green country, rugged mountains, glaciers, and wild nature. This is why the endless golden beaches of the Abel Tasman Track surprised me so much. An endless series of bays, with a sand so golden it can almost compete with the pristine turquoize water of the sea, separated by hills covered with lush forest, was certainly not what I had expected.

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