Some folks are just downright suicidal, and sometimes I am one of them! In 2009 I had conceived a plan to be the first person (I think) to canoe the mighty remote Seaforth River in Fiordland NZ (14 years ago today!). I had a brand-new Alpacka ‘Fjord Explorer’ packraft (https://alpackarafts.com/product/fjord-explorer/) courtesy of Kevin Rudd’s bushfire […]
I have written about this wonderful airline, Wings And Water before. For our 50th anniversary we just had to have a flight into Supper Cove (since we did not quite make it on our walk) and a tour of Dusky Sound and some other beautiful fiords: Breaksea, Dagg, Doubtful, etc. The flight took approx 2
Milford vs Doubtful Sound? Which is your favourite? The road to Milford is one of the most wonderful in the world I’m sure, and there is no doubt that Sound is the more famous, but for my money the Doubtful beats it hands down, and if you can manage a trip there the Dusky beats
There are many wonderful sights along the Milford Rd. This trip we witnessed some intrepid whitewater canoeists. I thought I had done a lot of whitewater work – but not like this. The guy reckoned this was Grade 3+. I beg to disagree. I have canoed a lot of Grade 3 water in Oz but
Undaunted by our (unsuccessful) fiftieth anniversary foray on the Dusky, a couple of days later we decided to give the Kepler Heli-Hike a try. It involves a (claimed) 3 1/2 hour walk down from the Luxmore Hut to Brod Bay on the Western shore of Lake Te Anau (pretty accurate – for us anyway –
I will let Della begin (from her Facebook post about it): “First of our Fiordland adventures: (More to come later). We spent 3 magical days on the Dusky Track. On the first day we crossed Lake Hauroko in a water taxi and spent the night with the Hauroko Hut all to ourselves: Not everyone’s notion
Outback Boats: A New Way to Travel to the Waitutu Lodge (and elsewhere): You can buy one of your own. Imagine the places you could go. I can think of many such here in Gippsland too but probably they are illegal here like most things: http://www.outbackboats.nz/ Can’t wait to get back to the South Coast
New Zealand’s South Coast Track is a magical journey through one of the world’s completely untouched forests where no axe has ever fallen or anyone ever lived. I/we have been there four times and plan to go again, maybe in late spring this year if my knee is good enough by then, otherwise next autumn.
Getting dry, staying dry, that’s what survival comes down to. Alan Remnant founding pilot/owner of Wings on Water, Te Anau, Fiordland who has flown me in to Supper Cove so many times (one of the world’s greatest trips) tells me he has often had to ferry deceased hikers out of there too, folks who could
It is incredibly difficult country. Some ‘easier’ areas (eg along the South Coast Track) are flatter and safer. There are both pigs and deer there. In NZ they have these excellent DOC (‘Dept of Conservation’) huts all over the place (roughly a solid day’s walk apart with a pack; all have a helipad) which make
