After hikes in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, we headed for the next backpacking.
Our plan was to backpack 3 night/4 days in dirt track. To check the conditions and get hut tickets, first we went to DOC visitor center in the town. The guy at DOC was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information.
Before heading for the trailhead, we first needed to get food and snack for backpacking. So we went to New World Market. New World Market is a grocery store chain similar to Safeway or Market Basket in the U.S.
At the entrance of New World Market in Queenstown, I saw a cute cat!!!!! Her name is "Izzy Cat" Izzy is the first name, Cat is the last name. Izzy is a supermarket cat in Queenstown. She used to be wild, but over the years, she got tamed and now an unofficial employee of New World Market. There is an article posted near the Izzy's shelter and cat tower. You can read the article, "Izzy the supermarket cat" here. Also there is Izzy's Facebook page even!
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| Izzy |
When I approached the entrance, Izzy was sitting under the bench (you can see the metal bench in the left picture). I sat near Izzy and said, "come here!" and Izzy came to me. She looks happy by being pet. Cute!
Then she sat on the bed and started kneeling. If I lived in Queenstown, I would come New World every day!!!!!!
I think that Izzy is definitely contributing to the New World's business. A lot of locals love Izzy and people come to see her. Izzy's shelter which has name tag saying "IZZY" was donate by a doting customer. Izzy also has a blanket which also has "IZZY" tag. Izzy is one of highlights of this trip for sure.
<Conversation after discussion what the highlights of the trip>
Mr.N: if a cat is a highlight, no need to fly 14 hours.
K: No. It has to be Izzy. Period.
Well, Okay. So, back to hiking blog.
After filled our backpacks with snacks from New World Market, we went to the trailhead of Dart Track in Mount Aspiring National Park. The tricky thing of this part is it is a dirt road to the Dart track. This dirt road has small water flowing portion to let water from rain in the mountain go. If it is no rain it is just a small hollow every 10 meters. However, if there is rain during our backpacking, our sedan car might not be able to go through. That means we might be stuck at the parking lot at the trailhead. The ranger at DOC center said 4WD is recommended but not required. Anyway we tried to drive to the trailhead. However, maybe at the third hollow, already it was obvious sedan car can't go through to the trailhead. Being that situation, we decided to go backpacking in the backpack area. Then we started heading back to the paved road portion. On the half way to the pave road, three Asian ladies, clearly Chinese, were standing. One lady tried to talk to us, so we stopped and rolled down the window. The lady was on the right of the car, so talked to the driver (Driving seat is on the right in New Zealand, so is Japan), Mr.N.
She talked to Mr.N, "We are wondering if it is possible to get a lift to the pave road, 7 km away."
She explained, "Our rental car is not allowed to drive dirt road."
Mr.N said, "Yes we can give you a ride."
Then she saw my face and, "中国語中国語中国語 (Chinese)"
Mr.N: ........... (silence)
Me : ........... (silence)
Me inside: I am not Chinese....I AM NOT CHINESE!!!
Mr.N: She doesn't speak Chinese.
Basically they parked their rented car at the end of pave road and started walking on the dirt road, because their rental company didn't allow renters to drive on a dirt road. They walked 7 km and got tired and no energy to walk back. Apparently they wore normal clothes not hiking wears. Also it seemed they didn't have any water. Because we had a lot of stuff on the back seat, we asked them to hold stuff while they sit in the car. Only one of the three people could speak English. Even that when Mr.N talked to them in English, she didn't understand at all.
It reminded me of the early days in the U.S. Actually listening is very important. I think that listening skill is more important than speaking. If you don't understand a question, you can't answer, which means there is not even an opportunity to speak. If you don't understand group chat, you don't know what to speak. If you don't follow the conversation, you feel left out.
While I was thinking about that, we reached at their car. It was 4 WD. Hahaha. Our car was a sedan driving 4WD recommended road.
Then we started driving on the pave road, and got this.
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| Flat Tire |
Flat tire.
How many times did I get flat tires during adventures?
1. Yosemite
2. Trinity Alps
3. Death Valley
4. Death Valley (2nd)
5. Big Island, Hawaii
6. This. New Zealand
Now I know how to replace a flat tire with a donut. OK. We went to Queenstown airport and went to a rental car company. The company person told us to go to Bridgestone tomorrow morning since it was already 6 p.m.
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| River at the campground |
We searched a free camping area run by DOC and camped there. It was a pretty spot. The camping area is right near the beautiful river.
While we were chilling, 2 rafting person came from upstream and finished at the campground. Wow. Looks adventurous.
Only complaint here was the toilet was stinky! In New Zealand the term toilet is used for the restroom/bathroom in the U.S. I felt good, because the term toilet is used in Japan, too. Another good thing I felt home was left side traffic with driving wheel at the right side. It is same as Japan and I felt so good with that.
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