A Trail Vacay

After I got my tooth patched up I was ready for a little break from the trail. Thru hiking can feel like hard work sometimes – especially with so many logistics to work through and I just needed to step away for a few days. It’s also a great opportunity to let my body rest and catch up on some missing calories. I was in the best place for this as I was just outside the tourist Mecca of Queenstown. I had a great hike from Arrowtown along the Queenstown trail and stopped in to have some delicious pizza along the lake. The owners of the pizza place had the cutest dog that had trained itself to hear the buzzer that they give you when your pizza is ready. As soon as it vibrated on the table, she came over with the sweetest face that you just can’t ignore. She had her share of my pizza and moved onto the next buzzer. Pavlov should be her name.

I had a heck of a time finding a place to stay in Queenstown but finally scored a dorm bed at the Nomads hostel for two nights to give me a chance to explore the area. The hostel was packed with loud but fun travelers from all around the world. It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve had but I met some great people and the hostel was right in the middle of town. Queenstown is a beautiful place but it is teeming with tourists and fancy stores. Louis Vuitton was the first shop I saw in town and it isn’t what I had expected. I learned while I was there that the city leaders have worked hard to turn this into a high end destination but it feels odd since it is really a base for getting out into the most remote and rugged areas on the island. There are so many great outdoor outfitters and mountain bike rental companies but they are sharing the same block with Burberry and Rolex. Needless to say, it was a bit of a shock to come from the trail to all of this activity. I went for a few great runs around the lake and had some good meals but then I was ready to get out of there after my two days were up. I was itching to get back the slower quieter ways that I had been enjoying so much on the trail.

As luck would have it, my new friends Laurie and Bruce from Bainbridge live part of the year in Glenorchy – a remote and stunningly beautiful small village about thirty miles north of Queenstown. Bruce picked me up and we drove out along Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy. The view of the snow capped mountains and the deep blue lake are incredible. They invited me to stay for two nights while I waited for Sean to arrive. I arrived just in time for the Glenorchy Races. This is an annual event where all of the local ranches bring their horses for a low key day of races that finish with a big party and live band. The horses were impressive and it was a blast to watch them race so close to the crowd. Laurie and Bruce treated me to great home cooked meals and warm hospitality in their beautiful home. It was great to get to know them and one of their sons Brian better. The great Kiwis just doing their thing again.

My friend Sean Parker from Bainbridge arrived yesterday and we had a great dinner together at Camp Glenorchy Eco Lodge. The Eco Lodge is a polished high end resort that is built to the highest green building standards. They truly have it all – luxurious accommodations all built with green and local materials and the facility produces more energy than it consumes. It was developed by the Brainards from Bainbridge Island that also built Islandwood. They have incredible taste and care deeply about the environment. It’s so great to see those two things come together. We had a wonderful dinner together in their restaurant and planned our bike packing adventure to the fjord land. Sean is going to do the bike trip with me before we head back to Queenstown to finish the trail together.

Laurie drove us into Queenstown early the next morning and we picked up our bikes from our new buddy Mike. Mike owns Around the Mountain Cycles and he also does some volunteer work with the Te Araroa. When he found out that I was a thru hiker he treated me to coffee across the street so he could get my feedback on the trail. The trail organizers are interested in increasing the number of hikers and wanted to know what I would change to try to make it more attractive. No surprise that I voted for less road walking but that is such a hard problem to solve on the North Island. It just takes so many resources to get access for a dedicated trail that long.

We headed out of Queenstown in heavy traffic and the first thirty miles along busy highway 6 was pretty hectic. About twenty miles in, one of the rack brackets that was holding his pannier snapped in half and a heavy bag full of gear went flying into traffic. We were able to recover everything and called Mike. Fortunately, he was on the way down to where we were and met us in Kingston and fixed the bike while we ate lunch. We also met a college student named Will and his family and as we got to talking we found out that he was just accepted on a full ride rowing scholarship to University of Washington. This is one of the best rowing programs in the world and I invited him over to Bainbridge to visit our rowing program. They were such a cool family and I hope Will reaches out when he gets to Seattle.

Mike fixed the bike in no time while we had lunch in Kingston and we started biking again. Kingston is the start of the Around the Mountains trail – a dedicated gravel trail that will take us on a four to five day trip to Te Anau and the gateway to the fjords. It was easy and fun riding and Sean and I had a blast talking and taking in the mountain views. I enjoyed my rest days but was so happy to be back out in nature and pushing myself again. I’m feeling so rested and relaxed and really looking forward to the fun days of cycling ahead. Sean is a great travel partner and is so exited about the trip and being in New Zealand. It’s been fun to show him around a little bit and share all the cool things I’ve learned. Enough with the rest already – let’s get back out there for some nice long hard days.