Smitten Team New Zealand Road Trip

Smitten Owners Carl And Nicola And Their Daughter Brooke Hike Their Way Through New Zealand.

Pictured above: Carl and Brooke in zip necks and leggings at Inferno Crater Lake, Rotorua.

The Smitten team of Carl, Nicola and myself, Brooke, their other daughter, made our way to NZ to camp around both islands and have one helluva time! The plan was to tick off a day walk every day and do a wood-fired pizza tour. Nic isn’t much of a camper so we started in a little Airbnb in Queenstown overlooking the lake, very pleasing to go home to after walks in the pouring rain for a cozy cocoa and a warm shower. There were Indian restaurants galore in Queenstown and I ordered on uber eats as we had weary legs, but it seemed also a weary brain as somehow the order went through to a restaurant in Sydney with the same name, I hangrily had to ring the people to nominate the 3 naans, curries and samosas to some famished punter in Sydney.

Left: Queenstown from above. Middle: Queenstown lake Brooke wears zip neck and fleece leggings and Nic scoop top and leggings. Right: cozy pub in Glenorchy after soaking wet walk on Routeburn

We started with the Rob Roy track to the glacier and the Routeburn track. You could hear regular small avalanches from the glacier as you walked the track like distant rumblings, chorused merrily by Carl’s over-indulgence in kiwifruit.

We learned early on that Nicola isn’t much of a hiker, she bought three pairs of heels with her. So, we zip-lined and after half a day attempting to download the app, e-scootered around the town op-shopping and market hopping. Our place was on a 500m uphill climb, but sadly the e-scooters were zoned and petered out at the bottom of the hill and she had to teeter up in her heels. Despite what I thought was endless fun, Nic had to retire reasonably quickly back to the comforts of the apple isle and her hypoallergenic hound and we were down to 2.

Left: Carl 3-degree dips at Hollyford track. Right: Carl waterfall dips Routeburn track

We found cute handmade mugs at the markets that we took around for the whole two months and never washed them; just coffee after coffee went in there with yesterday’s dregs.

Carl brought his own favourite soy milk in the back of the car and used it until it curdled, whipping it out at the cafes as he is very particular on milk, some shops accepted the donation and he even got one discounted coffee but most thought he was crazy.

Pictured above: The most loved mugs.

We trekked merrily in a snake-free kind of way, first down to Milford sound to do the Hollyford track. Carl swum in waterfalls and steams that were 3-degrees and I put my feet in and nearly died with pain, but he bribed me in with Woodfired pizza and I lasted 30 seconds but the endorphin hit I got had us sprinting for 2 hours all the way home!

We found a bush bath at the campground near Milford Sound with open fire beneath it and watched the snowy mountains as the sun went down. We loved the bath so much we had one every night and the lovely couple that managed it gave us the last one free!

Left: Brooke’s accommodations - if only she was 5’3. Right: Livin! Milford sound

We then made our way to Franz Josef and Fox glacier but due to a large landslide we couldn’t get through the road and had to go to Mount Cook instead, an 8-hour detour. I almost cracked it as all the hotels were booked for months and it was snowing but we rang one and they had a cancellation! We scoffed 3 hours of buffet breakfast after weeks of dad’s stone cold ‘health programme’.

At Mt Cook, we climbed to Mueller hut, the last 2km in kneedeep snow in our Smitten base thermals and I bailed and dad ploughed on, saying it was the best view he had ever seen, typical.

Above: Buffet heaven with Mt Cook in background, Carl in trusty zip neck, shorts and leggings and Brooke in scoop neck and fleece leggings

We finally made it to the glaciers which are the lowest in the world above sea level, at only 300m. They are reducing rapidly at about 20cm/year - approx 3km since the 80’s and you could see the empty all this rubble left behind. On the way, we got a coffee and realised it was cash only and had to trade for our olive oil. Near the glaciers was this glow worm night walk filled with feral cats and tourists with full-beam head torches looking eagerly for glow worms, we tried to get them to turn the torches off so we could actually see but I think they thought we were trying to abduct them or something. We did then go to the Waitomo caves and it was incredible, like the night sky!

Above: Fresh produce in the squatter's kitchen

We then followed the Queen Charlotte scenic drive and slipped across on the ferry to the North island. We went past the old Levana who used to turn our merino into fabric in Wellington, which had now been converted into a raw treats and woodfired pizza joint! We made our way to the Tongariro circuit and waited 3 days for a clear day and then took off, along with 200 others that got ferried to the start of the walk. Carl spent the entire walk trying to overtake people on the narrow track, clad only in his Smitten leggings in the knee deep snow.I think he forgot to take in the scenery at all as he focused on getting to the front. Everyone he went past gasped at his bare, hairy chest and I reassured them that he was Tasmanian and they nodded gravely with understanding.

Left: Carl on way to Mueller Hut, Mt Cook. Right: Brooke on Tongariro Circuit one of the top ten day walks in the world. Below: Carl the Ice Man!

We made it to Raglan and as a surfer, I spent three days surfing left-hand point heaven as we were lucky to time a swell. I got absolutely annihilated trying to jump off the rocks on a massive set and got cheese grated along the rocks, but we found our best woodfired pizza to nurse the bruised bones! Sadly my air mattress sprouted a hole which didn’t help proceedings and I slept on a yoga mat. While there we did a Wim Hoff course which resulted in Carl doing 6 minutes in the ice bath. The guide, Scott, a doppelganger for Wim Hoff, was so calm and interesting that it was the first time Carl continued to process any information after the worlds “Listen carefully..”

From there we went to Rotarua and found a couple of free muddy hot springs about and embraced them.

We then headed up north to the magic beaches where we did the Duke’s nose, a volcano cone and one of the best most scenic walks ever bursting out of rainforest along a stream to epic views. I was initially too PMS to come and then changed my mind and ran in and bumped into Carl right at the bottom and he had to climb it twice!

We finished up in Auckland at a kombucha brewery and accidentally booked a casino room for the night and watched people chain smoke and drink on the pokies and it was a true shock to be out of the bush and back to civilisation! Home we went to Tas and it felt like we were still on vacay in NZ!