New Zealand WILD

New Zealand WILD

by NANCY HELLMRICH

I have to admit something. I’ve been holding out on you. I’ve been waxing rhapsodic about the coastal wonders of New Zealand from Auckland to Queenstown. What I haven’t told you about, because I wanted it to be my little secret, is the wild-and-wooly adventure land in the interior of the South Island. Specifically, the Mackenzie District in South Canterbury—home to Aoraki Mt. Cook, teal blue lakes, and the legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary, who trained here for his historic summit of Mt. Everest.

Go For a Wee Walk Up a Hill

One of the first things you learn about Kiwis is their penchant for understatements. They don’t like to brag, I’m told. And that’s fair enough. But when you’re a visitor, it’s handy to know they might refer to a mountaineering expedition as “a wee walk up a hill.” To avoid joining such an expedition stick to the Aoraki Mt. Cook Walking Tracks, which range from 10 minutes to 3 hours and dazzle you with lupins, lavender, and buttercups. Afterward, grab lunch at the Old Mountaineers Café in Aoraki Mt. Cook Village.

Go For a Wee Bike Ride

Easy-peasy is what the locals said the first time they took me on a bike ride, which ended up being a good 25 miles of sheep tracks, river crossings, and rocks. The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail is not like that. It’s a neat and orderly gravel path with helpful signs along the way. While the path literally goes from Mt. Cook to where the Pacific Ocean tickles your toes, it is broken into nine, dare I say, easy segments. Bikes and gear are available at a shop in Twizel.

Spend Time in The Dark

Something they don’t tell you about in Auckland is that New Zealand has a Dark Sky Reserve. And guess what, the Aoraki Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve is the world’s largest. To take advantage of this, lie on your back in a field and look up. If the timing is right, you might even glimpse the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis). For a more mind-blowing view, take a bus or drive up to Mt. John Observatory and peer into the cosmos through powerful telescopes.

Take Off on a Glacier Safari

On my first glacier “air safari” we flew over Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain at 3,724 meters, and second-highest Mt. Tasman, then the pilot deftly landed on the glacier and we got to run around. Nowadays, you can flight-see in small planes, helicopters, and even a bright red biplane with an open cockpit, which I find a little scary but you might not. Back on the ground, take a boat out onto the terminal lake where you can hold 500-year-old ice blocks in your hand.

Sip Central Otago Wines

Years ago, my husband and I decided it would be romantic to do a working holiday on Chard Farm overlooking the Kawarau River. It was summer, and we were thinning the vines, squatting and standing our way through the rows from dawn to dusk. I lasted two weeks. Turns out, tending grapes is hard work and not all that romantic. If you’re in the Mackenzie area and thirsty, head to Central Otago, the world’s southernmost viticultural region, and sample the wines of Rippon Vineyard, Swallow’s Crossing, Wooing Tree, Aitken’s Folly, and good old Chard Farm.