After three nights in Arthur's Pass (760 m elevation), I've taken the seven hour trip up to Nelson, which is at the northern coast of the South Island. Arthur's Pass was pretty cold the first night, but there was a toasty coal stove heating the lounge. It's a small village there with one store/gas station and a couple hotels and a couple hostels. I got to do a couple stiff day hikes there, visiting both sides of the valley. The first hike was to Mt. Aiken at 1863 m, then the next day I hit Avalanche Peak (1833 m), Lyell Peak (1828 m), and Mt. Beasley (1836 m). Now my Achille's tendons are paying the price. I was totally inspired by three guys I met the first night. It was cold and rainy, but they had just done a training trail run (25 km up to 1050 m) in preparation for the Coast to Coast challenge, a one-day 255 km race in a few weeks. It's one of those multisport races with trail running, river kayaking (class 2), and road-biking. These guys set off to kayak for five hours the next morning.
Now I'm in Nelson to head to the Abel Tasman National Park, but I still have to figure out what I plan on doing there.
No comments:
Post a Comment