An Outdoorsman's Journal

A New Kind of Adventure

Hello all,

This is Selina, back again to fill you in on my latest adventures. As previously mentioned in other columns, I was incredibly fortunate and able to take a month-long trip to New Zealand during December and January. As my dad always says, I have a lot to tell and not enough room for all of the stories so I will have to be brief.

When I made the tough decision to leave my position as a Biologist with USFWS last year I decided that I really wanted to do some form of longer-term travel. When my dad was in his twenties he spent months hiking the Appalachian Trail and canoeing upstream the Mississippi River, similarly my mom lived out of a van exploring the American Southwest. I have been incredibly fortunate to travel the US for work but had not taken the time to just do something fun for myself and thought this would be the perfect time. New Zealand was an easy choice as both mountains and beaches are plenty giving endless opportunities for adventure, English is their primary language, it is very safe to solo travel, and since they are on the opposite side of the globe their seasons are opposite meaning I got an extra month of summer during this (not so harsh) winter.

I started and ended my trip in Auckland in the North Island. My plan for this trip was to rent a car and try to explore as much of the North and South Islands as I could in a short amount of time while tent camping most nights. Renting a car meant learning to drive on the other side of the road. I was shocked to just be handed a pair of keys to a brand-new vehicle and told to head out, once I was out of the city the driving was not bad, but it was certainly a nerve-wracking start.

I spent 8 days exploring the North Island. As one could likely guess given my background, my highlight here was snorkeling Poor Knights Island. While snorkeling we saw rays, endless amounts of blue maomao, grouper and wrasse. This was my first time doing any kind of tropical snorkel trip and absolutely is something I would like to do again. The North Island has a subtropical climate, and I spent much of my time here relaxing on beaches. Crazy enough I had to go all the way to New Zealand to experience the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Another North Island highlight was hiking the Pinnacles Track in the Coromandel National Park and staying overnight in a back country hut. The hut was well equipped to hold ~30 people, with bunk beds, a kitchen with an incredibly scenic view, pit toilets, and even a cold shower (which was much needed). While at the hut I met travelers from all over the world and made some friends from Germany and England but was particularly interested in the family groups from New Zealand. It was very cool to see these families who hiked exquisite meals up and were spending the evening together outdoors.

As much as I enjoyed the North Island, I was very excited to ferry south. In the South Island I visited Abel Tasman National Park, Franz Josef, Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, Wanaka, Queenstown, Milford Sound and Mount Cook/Aoraki. While all of these experiences were incredible, highlights included a boat tour of Milford Sound and hiking to the Mueller Hut in Mount Cook. While hiking to the Mueller Hut I saw numerous avalanches and was stunned by the closeness of the Sealy Tarns and opal blue alpine lakes that surrounded the summit. The hike up was a trip, including more than 2,200 steps and 3,500 feet of elevation gain, but the views were more than worth it, and I rewarded myself with a lamb chop up at the summit.

I tried to hold myself to a rather strict budget on this trip and opted to mostly do self-guided hikes rather than tours and extravagant trips. In total, I hiked just under 100 miles and got 25,000 feet of elevation gain and sustained no injuries and never got lost. To save money I only ate out a handful of times and enjoyed cooking on a single burner butane stove (mostly from the ground as I refused to buy a table or chair, again to save money.) I slept in a tent all but three nights, and often only had to pay $10 for a site.

Additionally, I want to add that at no point during this trip did I feel unsafe. I am not unaware that it can be dangerous to solo travel, especially as a young woman, however I had nothing but positive experiences interacting with the Kiwi’s and other international travelers.

Raise your children, especially your daughters, to be independent and the world is their oyster!

-Selina