Seeking

December 2015 First, you make an hour long drive up a gravel road from Wanaka, fording numerous streams (if the water flow allows). To the Raspberry Creek Parking Lot (trailhead). Mt. Aspiring off in the distance. On our way to the Aspiring Hut. Up the valley next to the glacial melt stream–bridge to Rob Roy Glacier ahead. A side hike. I’ll do this on the way back. The trail passes through a sheep ranch along the way. Free range sheep? Several icy streams to cross.   Almost there! Aspiring Hut coming up. Made of local fieldstone. This area is a…

  Routeburn track is east of Milford Sound. I never tired of watching the myriad waterfalls. Made it to Lake MacKenzie! Lake MacKenzie is lovely, looks almost like a Japanese stone and water garden. Beautiful, yet cool enough you want a layer. Climbing out along one side of the valley. Climbing up toward Harris Saddle. And down the other side. Dramatic mountain landscapes. Glad I have hefty ankle high mountain boots! As we drop down to the Routeburn Falls Lodge. And into the valley below…

I began my solo travels in November 2016. It did not seem beneficial to anyone for me to sit at home in Hawai’i alone, yet it did not seem a great weather time to travel elsewhere–until I remembered that November is the end of spring/beginning of summer in…New Zealand! So I booked a flight to Auckland. We had hosted Katherine McKenzie from Auckland in 1982 for a year (when she was in high school). I didn’t know her married name, and thought it unlikely I could find her. At the last minute, I googled her name, and found she was…