That’s the word to describe our hike a couple days ago to Key Summit – about 40 km out of Te Anau.  Ann heard it was a great hike so despite a great deal of complaining from me, (we had just done a six hour hike the day before and a three hour hike the day before that) we set off in the morning after checking out of our barnyard hostel.

We had to get a shot of this sign on the way to the hike to show about where we are.

This hike is billed as a “three hour round trip”, but once you get to the top, there’s an additional one hour circle around the summit.  The most notable thing about this hike aside from the beauty and it being steep was it’s 360 degree views of the mountainside.  Also, they call this Key Summit because the mountain is the source of three watersheds leading to three oceans – the Tasman, the Pacific and the Southern Ocean.

Anyway, despite dragging myself out of the car, it only took a few minutes up the trail to realize this was going to be a truly special hike.  The beech trees lining the first half of the hike were draped in moss and their trunks and branches reached endlessly to the sky. The last third of the hike emerged to stunning views of snow capped mountains- the Southern Alps! I think when you look at the scenery you’ll agree.

We had a lovely lunch at the summit and soaked in the sunshine and a spectacular alpine vista.

Once you get here to the summit, the whole horizon is an “amphitheater” of alpine peaks for 360 degrees.

It just doesn't get much more beautiful than this.

(Sorry for the delay in this post, we took this trip a week ago but wanted to share the pictures along with the story. Additionally we have added pictures back to the “My Brain Hurts!” Blog. Enjoy!)

History has it that Captain Cook sailed this way in the late 1700’s, took one look at this spot (Doubtful Sound) in what is now known as Fiordland (note I’m using the Kiwi spelling) and said something to the effect of, “We’re not going in there because it’s doubtful we’ll be able to sail back out!”

He was probably right.  Fiordland consists of a series of narrow gorges coming in from the ocean with granite walls of 1000 vertical feet on each side.  Carved out over the millennia from glaciers, today they are covered with vegetation tenuously grasping the rock, but the mountainous sides of the fiords are no less imposing than I’m sure Captain Cook felt those several hundred years ago.

In contrast to Captain Cook’s voyage, Ann and I were able to take a lovely overnight cruise on a small trawler operated by Fiordland Expeditions.  The package included transportation from near our lodging in Te Anau, across the lake then on a bus down to the fiord where we boarded our boat for a 24 hour fiordland adventure.  (Fiordland is not accessible by road, the buses that transport guests were brought in on a barge).

Happy campers about to leave.

Our conveyance. It's a converted ferry and can hold up to 14 overnight guests, but for our trip - only six. Nice.

The boat was crewed by a captain (William-a Kiwi and very experienced skipper) and first mate (Nicholas – a young Frenchman) and had a total of six guests including Ann and myself. The other four were about our age and included a Norwegian, a Scot and two Brits.

The multi-national passenger group (did I mention it was also a bit cold?)

We had a blast!

And it rained a lot! But that meant tons of waterfalls!

It would be impossible to recount the whole trip, but in summary we fished (and caught) blue cod for our six-course dinner supplemented by the lobster that the captain dove for. What a feast!  We saw some amazing scenery including seeing fur seals and rare crested penguins and enjoyed great camaraderie that made for an amazingly fun two days.  We cruised the fiords, anchored for the night and even though it rained, had a lot of fun.

Heading out to the fiords.

That's a good sign!

We saw fur seals almost hunted to extinction but now making a comeback.

And Crested Penguins...

...quite possibly the highlight of the trip for Ann.

Fishing for dinner...

...and the skipper dove for lobster.

No shortage of lobster for dinner.

The views were amazing...

...waterfalls everywhere...

...and overnight while we slept it snowed...

These walls are so big it's hard to do them justice in a picture.

We're ready to go back!

No, it wasn’t what you think. No arguments here.

He said, “This is great fly fishing country”. She said, “Is that really fun? Standing in the water trying to catch fish?”

And so we went our separate ways today.

From Ann…guess what I did? I went hiking! There was a hiking park on the way back to the “perfect fishing stream” so I had Bob drop me off and come back for me in two and a half hours.
Surprise…a completely different hike from the …okay I have lost count but at least seven …other hikes we have done. Firstly this was in a park-like setting. Which means that after wandering around on the hiking tracks in the hills I could then wander through the arboretum and play on the playground while waiting for Bob’s return.

The more "wild" side of the trail.

This hike also featured manicured lawns that gave way to wide paths that looked like tractors had used them…which were only well-marked at the beginning. Although I did manage to find the high ridge with wonderful views of the rural farmland with rolling green pastures dotted with sheep, I was unable to find the longest track that was a complete loop. Does getting disoriented, due to lack of good signage (an absolute first for New Zealand), and circling several times while scaring a small heard of sheep count? At least I found my way back and had time to wander through the arboretum which offered a huge selection of trees. So beautiful.

But my best find was the zip line on the playground. Although I could not convince myself to jump out and on to the small circular seat without Bob to pick me up if I missed, I was able to play on it when Bob retuned to pick me up. Only New Zealand would have a zip line in a playground. I think Lonely Planet missed this jewel. Sweet as!

(From Bob)  So…we’re in a place marketed as “The world capital of brown trout fishing!”.  Yipes, how could I resist, especially after seeing the two GIANT browns that another American caught back in Te Anau.  They looked more like small salmon than trout.

My casting arm started quivering at the sight of this sign.

I’ve been dying to get onto New Zealand’s trout streams and I finally couldn’t stand it any longer.  I bought a basic fly fishing rig (rod, reel, waders, flies and some assorted stuff to make it all work) and was just waiting for the right spot.  This seemed to be it since there’s little else to do in Gore.  Well, if you’re got the fishing mania, nothing else compares.  (It’s a disease you know, like golf only possibly worse).

Anyway, Ann was gracious enough to “go it alone” for an afternoon, so after dropping her off, I headed out to a recommended stream.  Down a gravel road (all “good” fly fishing goes down a gravel road), literally in this sense heading over hill and dale.  Just the drive was an adventure!

Heading out cross country before hitting the gravel road.

Once well out in the country I found the promised land.  A nice little river, about 20 yards across.  OK, enough detail about that fishing stuff.

After a little while “finding” my technique after not fly fishing for a couple years, I finally was targeting some holes when I cast into a riffle behind a rock and WHAM! A trout hit the line!  I jerked the pole back to set the hook and the trout exploded upward in a cascade of foaming white water, valiantly thrashing from side to side in mid-air as he threw the took out of his mouth.

What?   Bummer!

Guess I didn’t set the hook well enough.  Oh well, that’s what being out of practice brings. They say “almost” doesn’t count, but that’s not true.  Almost catching that trout was so exciting I think I’ll go out and try again.

This was a different spot where Ann came and read a book on the bank, but you get the picture. Nice.

Anyway, I had a great time back on the stream and am looking forward to a couple more tries as we move north.  My goal?  To catch a Kiwi trout so I can really know I’ve fly-fished New Zealand.