When asked, “Which place has been your favorite?” Jonathan and I simultaneously state (more factually than emphatically), “New Zealand.” Why no exclamation mark? Because New Zealand took this honor in a landslide victory. This country’s dynamic beauty caused us to constantly pick our jaws up from the floor while attempting to find synonyms for “Whoa!!” You could employ any and every positive adjective when trying to describe the landscape of New Zealand. Ultimately though, I believe only one word is acceptable and even then, only one definition of that word. The word is sublime and the definition comes from the philosopher Immanuel Kant (though introduced to me by the author Mark Adams) . While writing this post and revisiting our pathetic attempts to capture the sheer awesomeness of New Zealand’s nature, I constantly returned to this word and this definition in hopes of re-living the simultaneous feelings of comforting humility and daunting greatness.
“There is a difference between beautiful and sublime. Sublime means something limitless, an aesthetically pleasing entity so huge that it makes the perceiver’s head hurt.”
New Zealand is not just beautiful, it is sublime.
Jonathan and I hiked over 120 miles in New Zealand, tackling three of their “Great Walks” which allowed us to gaze at insane vistas while absorbing the endless details nature provides. The craziest part is, even after six weeks on these two small islands, we feel we have barely scratched the surface… and we cannot wait to return.
Our Great Walk introduction was the four-day, 34 mile trek through Milford Sound, known famously as “The finest walk in the world”. It was the very first thing Jonathan and I booked for this around-the-world trip. To maintain the incredible purity of this wilderness area, only 40 people per day are allowed in this wonderland at the bottom of the world. We arbitrarily chose a date in late March and booked our entire trip around this trek. Needless to say, our expectations had been growing for months.
The Milford Track took us through ancient rainforests and massive glacier carved valleys. Mountains straight-up arose out of the sea and through a constant mist, we watched the creation of hundreds of waterfalls nearly 360 degrees around us. While in the presence of towering trees and dominating cliffs, we also found ourselves feeling like kiddos again as we pointed out the tiniest of mushrooms and failed to resist touching fuzzy mosses and slimy tree barks. Each night (at 8:00 on the dot), we crashed, with our bodies exhausted from the hike and our heads legitimately full from the wonder. It was… you guessed it… sublime.
Click on the album to get a better look at Milford!
Where the Milford Track explored the southern fjordlands, our next track, the 23 mile Abel Tasman Track, took us along the northern beaches of the South Island. Arched coves of golden sand and crystal-clear waters constantly invited us for swims along our way and commanding views around the headlands greeted us at the top of every climb.
Camping along the Tasman Sea led to magnificent colors in the evening and plenty of bird songs to start the day. There were moments when, I swear, the birds were following so close behind me singing happy songs of playfulness that I felt like I was in a live-action version of “Snow White Goes to the Beach”.
Click on the pictures to travel along the Tasman!
When first thinking of New Zealand, the lush forests and pristine beaches of our first two tracks come immediately to mind. But we would be remiss to forget that scene in Lord of the Rings where Sam carries Frodo up Mt. Doom. This should help ring a bell…
Yep, the Tongarino Alpine Crossing on the North Island is a 12 mile jaunt through volcanic craters and alongside turquoise sulfuric lakes. The crossing is dominated by Mt. Ngauruhoe, better known as Mt. Doom, the perfectly conical (we are talking paper mache in science class perfect), ash-ridden volcano whose 3 mile summit side trip was not optional for Jonathan (and Tracy by association). Though I know hobbits did not “actually” climb its 45 degree slopes of ash, it was nearly impossible to put that scene out of our minds while slipping and gripping our way up to the crater’s rim. After an hour and a half of climbing, we were rewarded with views of most of the North Island and an inside look at this picture-perfect volcano. Steam obligingly rose from below and a group of nerdy, yet apparently quite fit, boys reenacted scenes with an actual gold ring they carried up. The remainder of the crossing, we took our time soaking up the lunar landscape and, once again, feeling like ants as we crossed the last two massive craters.
Click on the pictures to see the crossing of the Tongarino!
Every country has its own natural beauty and we have been lucky to experience as much of it as we have. But New Zealand… it just overwhelmed us with its dynamic diversity. As one friend of ours put it, “you can literally just drop your camera and it will take a great photograph”. It was more than beautiful; it was sublime.
Eastbound and Down 
WOW! This post boosted NZ’s position on my bucket list. You two look wonderful! Are you going to have a wordly, sublime glow about you upon return?
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I am so glad that you liked New Zealand as much as we did. Beautiful place with very kind people.
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We definitely used your itinerary!! It was a blast!
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